You're Not My Second Choice
by Packersgirl492
Summary: A.D. sends Alison a video of the Paily kiss from 7x14. Feeling devastated about everything, Ali heads to her best friend's place in New York City. Will Emily be able to track Ali down and explain how she truly feels? Emison endgame!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello beautiful people! I know it has been forever since I have written anything for Emison fanfiction, but after that gut wrenching 7x14 episode y'all know I had to crank something out! Of course, it helps that I just finished my first year of Grad School and have more free time to write over the summer now! And have no fear I WILL be updating Guardian Angel and Sinus Infection at some point (hopefully in a couple weeks)!**

 **Okay do y'all want a PLL rant? I really need to rant, but don't even know where to begin!**

 **Okay okay I guess I'll start by saying Emily Fields, girl, what are you doing?! You were showing ZERO romantic interest in Paige and now all of a sudden you were hoping the two of you could become an "us" once she got back to town? Like WTF? Also, Paige get your filthy little bike riding hands off of my precious Alison's personal possessions. God y'all, talk about being a stalker. Also, Paige is just trash because she didn't even want to stay until she saw Ali's abortion papers-Emily is just a possession to her-mark my words y'all! Anyway, back to Emily. Okay Em I can understand that Ali has yet to verbalize her feelings. Y'all remember from 7x11 when our girl said she didn't know why she kissed her mermaid. Sigh, Ali. BUT if y'all remember Ali was really annoyed at Paige that night AND she's pregnant. Hell, she's got other shit on her mind. However, I do think it was mightily shitty of Emily to give Ali the "don't kiss me until you know" ultimatum to only then kiss Paige (for a good chunk of time I might add). Ugh gross, I literally vomited. How do people ship Paily again?!**

 **Now onto this whole what should we call it? Medical rape pregnancy? WOW, PLL writers just wow. Even though most of us expected this to be the outcome-it is majorly fucked up. Like Ali was all set to have an abortion (you know decide what to do with her own damn body) and get back in control of her life; but now she feels like there's no way she could make that decision because this baby is biologically Emily's. Considering how hard women still have to fight for reproductive rights in the world today, I just thought it was a really shitty move by the PLL writers. Like they really need to tread carefully with this...AND doing it to the main LGBTQ couple made it suck even worse. All I know is they better not make it seem like our girls are only coming together because of this baby. We did not have 7 years of build up for this to be how Emison finally becomes a couple!**

 **Alright, what else has driven me crazy so far? Oh yes, PLL killed off another woman of color because you know, why not? First of all, if they were going to have Yvonne die, why couldn't she have just died in the car accident? Why did they have to make her come out of her coma, marry Toby, talk about going to Moscow, and then die? Or better yet if you wanted her to live and for Spoby to get back together, just have Yvonne be like "Toby I saw you kiss Spencer and I can't marry you if you still have feelings for someone else." BAM problem solved!**

 **Any one else grossed out by Spencer and Detective Furry sleeping together? No, just me, that's okay. I love how she told Hanna she was feeling sad about Toby and Yvonne and that's how they ended up in bed together. Also, aren't Emily and Toby really good friends? Why has she not gone to console him? And like was there a funeral for Yvonne, or nah?**

 **The steaming hot mess that is Ezria. Lord, Aria really needs to just leave his ass. I'm sorry, but this whole Nicole story line is just ridiculous. I am kind of excited though to see Aria make turn towards the dark side (but lol at Sydney trying to act like A.D.-girl your ear piece is big as fuck-try and be a little more conspicuous in your attire).**

 **Also, Paster Ted being Charlotte's dad-like what?! And lol was it not anti-climatic when Peter "revealed" that Mary killed Jessica. I won't believe it until we see a flashback of the shit-just saying.**

 **Any one else think this whole board game fiasco is just a really poor way for them to end the show on? Like y'all couldn't come up with anything else?!**

 **Anyway, moving onto this story! It's set in the current season of PLL and I really hope you all enjoy it! I'm planning on it being 3-4 chapters!**

 **Thank you all for the continued support-for the follows, favorites, and reviews-you really are the best!**

* * *

You're Not My Second Choice

Chapter One: Figure Out Our Shit

"God…Ali. I'd say I'm sorry, but…that doesn't even begin to encompass it…"

Brittany trailed off as her brilliant blues eyes looked up from Ali's cell phone after that damn video A.D. sent her finished playing.

The English teacher uncomfortably shifted on her best friend's couch and before more tears could spill out of her eyes Brittany had her wrapped in a comforting hug. She really didn't want to cry anymore, but what else could she honestly do? _This_ on top of the truth about her pregnancy was just too much to bear. It's why she'd gotten in her car and made the three-hour trek to New York City without telling _anyone_ where she was going. She just couldn't be in that fucking town any longer.

And thank God Brittany was actually home when she'd shown up on her doorstep with a look of sheer broken heartedness spread across her face an hour ago. Ali didn't even know for sure whether the tall brunette was even back in the United States yet. The Euro league women's basketball season had _just_ ended (with Brittany's team winning the championship of course); but Ali was counting on some member of the Johnson family to be at her best friend's lavish estate when she'd rang the doorbell. Lucky for the blonde it was the one she desperately needed to see.

She hadn't seen Brittany since before Charlotte's hearing. Back then she had some semblance of control over her life, now though…Everything was fucked up. She was carrying Emily's child after being inseminated against her will by A.D. or whoever the fuck at Welby…And to make everything worse she was hopelessly in love with the swim coach.

Ali had let herself hope that maybe there was a chance for her and Emily to actually be together. She'd always harbored romantic feelings for her best friend and she was _finally_ ready to stop hiding from who she really was and tell Emily how she felt about her…only to get that fucking video and text from A.D.

 _Looks like Estella won't get her Pip in the end. She's always been the love of your life, but you'll always be her second choice._

It was a video from the night she had discovered the truth about her pregnancy. Paige and Emily were making out-feverously so she might add-and blissfully talking about getting back together. Alison could feel her heart crack inside her. Like before that moment she could still hold onto hope, but after seeing that video and reading those words…her soul was shattered.

Thankfully the school day was over and she was just grading some of her student's papers when she had gotten the bombshell revelation, because there is no way she would have been able to go back to teaching after seeing _that._

Ali doesn't even know if she locked the door to her classroom, all she knew was that she had to get away. She had to talk to someone who never fucking judged her and just knew how to make her feel better.

Brittany was the big sister she'd always wanted when she was growing up-loving, kind, funny, and just all around good. The two of them met when Ali was living on the run in New York. At the time, Brittany was still in college at St. John's University and she'd found Ali bleeding from Cyrus' stab wound in an alleyway on her morning run.

At first the blonde was reluctant to let the basketball superstar help her, but Britt's entire being radiated protection and Ali was in too much pain to protest for very long. She'd known from the moment she'd looked into the athlete's soulful blue eyes that she could trust her and after getting to know the older woman, Ali was so glad she didn't push her away.

Brittany's strong arms wrapped around her even more securely as she assured, "Ali, I know you're really hurt right now, but…I just want you to know that I'm here for you. You're not alone. My mom, Bradley…we're all here. We all love you. You know that, right?"

Ali sniffled as she burrowed even further into Brittany, relishing in the tenderness of the embrace. After a moment she whispered, "I know that…it's just I really needed to hear it."

Brittany and her entire family had practically adopted Alison all those years ago, but it was still hard for the blonde to accept their love at times. Her fucked up childhood had conditioned her to question whether she was worthy of such affection.

The two of them got up from their position on the couch and headed into the star athlete's gigantic kitchen after the blonde's stomach grumbled. Brittany didn't even have to ask what Alison was hungry for-she just knew-and immediately started making her famous egg white omelet.

"How are you single again? A multi-millionaire athlete who cooks?" Ali teased her best friend as she added a wide array of vegetables and tofu to their mouthwatering omelets.

Brittany just laughed at the shorter woman before she revealed, "Well, I guess you could say I just haven't found the right person yet. I mean there was this one woman who I thought I could actually have something with, but she was really hung up on her ex and it was just all sorts of messy."

"Exes…they're the worst." Alison murmured as Brittany brought their food and two water bottles over to the breakfast bar.

"Ali…" Brittany tentatively began as she sat down in the chair next to her, "Maybe you should just talk to Emily about that video."

"And say what exactly? I love you, but I know it isn't enough because you're still in love with Paige. No fucking thank you." Alison let out a frustrated sigh before she took a bite of her omelet and moaned because it tasted so good.

"I just think it's odd. You said the two of you were building something…tangible…why would she go running back to Paige now?"

"Because that's what Emily does!" Alison raised her voice not at Brittany, but at this entire fucking situation. Running a hand through her long blonde hair, the teacher further divulged, "I come back from the dead, we share an incredible night of love making together, she goes running back to Paige. I _finally_ put myself out there and initiate a kiss with her, and she goes running back to fucking Paige!" Tears collected in Alison's eyes as she hollowed out, "I'm never going to be good enough for her, Britt. I broke her heart when we were teenagers and she's breaking my heart now. That's just karma, right?"

"Ali, listen to me," Her best friend's tone left no room for reproach and the blonde turned her head so she could hold her gaze, "You _are_ enough. You're an amazing human being who deserves happiness. This isn't karma. This is Emily being a fucking idiot. If she can't appreciate how wonderful you are, then she doesn't deserve you."

Alison wiped her eyes as she looked at Brittany with so much damn adoration, "I love you."

Brittany was honest to God her platonic fucking soul mate and she was so glad that she had her. Even if Emily wanted to be with Paige, at least Ali had Brittany and her family's support.

The basketball superstar smiled at her and supportively grabbed her hand, "I love you too." A beat passed before her best friend jokingly threw out, "And I'm seriously kicking Emily's ass for breaking your heart like this."

Ali grimaced at the suggestion. As devastated as she was, she still didn't want her mermaid getting hurt.

"That wouldn't solve anything, Britt."

They finished their egg white omelets in silence, before Brittany threw out another suggestion as they stood up to bring their dishes to the sink, "Can I beat Paige's ass then?"

Alison laughed at the taller woman as she playfully bumped into her, "I mean I wouldn't stop you…"

The blonde was kidding of course, but it was comforting to know Brittany was willing to get in physical altercations to defend her honor.

* * *

"So…no one knows where Ali is?" Hanna's worried voice filtered through Lucas' loft and Emily could feel her heart drop into her stomach when neither Spencer or Aria seemed to have any idea where the blonde was either. It was nearing 10 pm and no one had seen or heard from Ali for over six hours. They'd all tried calling and texting her repeatedly, but had gotten no response. The brunette's thinking the teacher's phone is either shut off or… _no, Emily you can't let your mind go there. A.D. doesn't have her._

"This doesn't make any sense…why would she just leave?" Aria inquired as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair.

"Maybe she needed a break?" Spencer threw out and Emily rolled her eyes. _Didn't they all need a fucking break from A.D.'s sadistic game?_

"But we can't afford for one of us to leave town, Spence! What if A.D. wants Alison to go again?" Hanna bluntly argued and Emily didn't mean to snap at the designer, but she was feeling extra protective over Alison lately…ever since she found out the truth about the blonde's pregnancy…and okay, yeah even before then.

"Fuck A.D. and fuck this game! Ali should be able to leave town for the fucking weekend after everything she's had to go through! Everything she's still going through!" Emily was seething as she paced back and forth, "Hell, she should leave this town and never come back, because Rosewood is toxic!"

Angry tears welled up in Emily's eyes because she was just so upset about everything that had transpired in the last week. She's angry at A.D. and she's even more angry at herself. She should have fucking been there for Ali when she had to find out that earth shattering news; but no, she was fucking making out with Paige like a complete asshole.

Because that's what she did whenever things between her and Ali started to get serious-she ran back to Paige. She ran back to Paige because Paige was safe, because Paige wasn't a complex enigma, and because Paige didn't have to "know" why she was kissing Emily. Paige kissed Emily because she was attracted to her.

And yes, Emily realizes how shitty of a person it makes her for giving Ali that ultimatum about kissing her and then running off to kiss Paige, because more than likely Ali hadn't even had time to process how she felt. For Christ sake, she had just figured out that she wanted to terminate her pregnancy, so she could have some semblance of control back in her life; so, she probably didn't even have time to think about if she wanted to embark on a romantic relationship with Emily. _Fuck._

A few heavy seconds passed after Emily finished her rant before Aria quietly asked, "Where would Ali even go? Aren't we all that she has?"

That question made Emily feel even shittier about herself. Unlike the four of them who were also living through A.D.'s hell, Ali literally had no one besides them. They all at least had one parent who could provide support when they needed it; but Emily didn't even know if Ali had _friends_ outside of them. The teacher had sacrificed so much taking care of Charlotte over the past five years, how could Ali have even found the time to build any kind of meaningful relationship with anyone outside of Rosewood?

Emily flopped dejectedly onto the couch next to Hanna before she stressed, "We have to find her," The brunette flicked the lone tear that cascaded down her cheek away as she choked out, "I have to make sure she's safe."

Hanna reached over and placed a soothing hand on her tense forearm. Emily tried to offer the designer a smile, but it fell flat.

A few more tense seconds passed before Spencer crossed her arms over her chest and accusatorily asked, "So, you do still care about Alison then?"

Emily's head snapped in the brainy brunette's direction as hot rage coursed through her veins, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Spencer sent a none too subtle glare in her direction as she sarcastically replied, "Oh nothing. You just bounce back and forth between her and Paige so much, it's hard to keep track of who's captured your heart for the day."

Emily felt her mouth go dry. She couldn't even argue with the tall brunette because she knew she was guilty of what Spencer was accusing her of. She was toying with them both, even though she knew who she wanted…who she had _always_ wanted. She was just so terrified to say it out loud.

"Spence…now really isn't the time." Aria reasoned with the strong-willed brunette and Emily thanked her lucky stars that Spencer didn't berate her for her shitty treatment of Alison anymore. Her heart literally couldn't take it. The swim coach leaned forward and covered her head with her arms, so she wouldn't have to see Spencer judging her. Emily was just so fucking tired.

After another uncomfortable minute of silence passed between the four of them Aria asked, "Han, do you know where Caleb's techy stuff is? I could track Ali's phone and find out where she is. Even if it's shut off there's still a way to trace the signal."

Hanna cleared her throat, "Um…yeah. It's in the bedroom. I'll go grab it."

Thankfully, Hanna was back in the living room in under a minute, because Emily could feel Spencer burning a hole through the side of her head that her arms weren't completely covering and it was unnerving to say the least.

As Aria started typing on Caleb's laptop, Emily lifted her head from resting between her legs and hollowly ghosted out in Spencer's direction, "What do you want from me?"

Never one to back down from a confrontation, Spencer scooted forward on the couch. Surprisingly though she spoke in a much softer tone, "I want you to get your shit together. Figure out who you want to be with and be with them. Ali deserves that," Emily sniffled as tears collected in her eyes, "And well, I guess Paige deserves that too; but honestly I don't give a fuck about her."

Hanna snorted at Spencer's declaration and a small smile spread across Aria's face at the taller brunette's words. _Wait, do they all want me to be with Ali?_

Never one to hide how she felt about someone, Hanna quickly added, "Seriously, Paige doesn't deserve _any_ of our damn kindness. Can you believe that bitch went snooping through Ali's stuff?"

Emily's eyebrows furrowed at the information, "Wait, what?" _Why would Paige do that? And better yet when did Paige do that?_

"Last week Ali abruptly ended our video chat because she had to throw up and when she got back to the teacher's lounge Paige was holding onto her appointment card for the clinic," Aria explained as she continued to work on Caleb's laptop and Emily immediately felt sick to her stomach. _Oh my God. Was that the same day…_

"Let me guess, Em. That was the same day Paige was all 'I'm not taking that other job, Emily. I'm staying. I want to be an 'us' again.'" Spencer was daring her to try and argue with her assessment of the situation, but Emily couldn't because that _was_ the same day. _Fuck, I'm such an idiot. Oh my God, how could I do this to Ali?_

"The way I see it Paige doesn't even love you Emily, she's just desperate to beat Ali," Hanna noted with clear disdain in her voice towards the athletic supervisor, "Obviously, the bitch hasn't grown up."

Before anyone else could comment on Paige, Aria piped up, "Guys, I've got a signal."

The tiny brunette turned the laptop around so they could all get a look at the map.

"That's in New York," Hanna instantaneously answered when her eyes scanned the map with a red dot flashing that supposedly indicated where Alison's cell phone was located. The designer's eyebrows rose impressively, "Like a really high end part of New York-we're talking athletes and celebrities. Damn, who does Ali know there?"

Before anyone could say anything else, Emily sprang up from the couch and hastily threw on her jacket. She could feel herself starting to panic as every possible situation of A.D. harming Ali flashed threw her mind.

"What if she doesn't know anyone there? What if A.D. took her or made her go on some crazy wild goose chase?! I can't just sit here when Ali could be in danger!"

The swim coach couldn't find her car keys anywhere and it was really starting to piss her off.

Aria gently grabbed her arm and turned the taller brunette around. When Emily's panic stricken, brown eyes met hers, the publicist gently commanded, "Em, breathe."

Emily tried to take a deep breath and settle her racing heart as the tiny brunette continued speaking, "You're not going to New York by yourself, okay? We _all_ love Ali and are worried about her, so that means we're all going."

"Nothing like a road trip to spice up our Friday night," Spencer joked as Hanna found her car keys.

"I'm driving, bitches," The feisty blonde declared and then explained when three pairs of eyes settled on her, "New York's my domain."

"Ok, just get us there in one piece, Han," Aria teasingly stated as the four of them walked out of Lucas' loft. Emily felt slightly better that her three best friends were going on this excursion with her. At least she'd have back up if they came upon A.D. in their quest to find Ali. _God, I just hope she's okay…_

* * *

Alison curled up further into Brittany's side finding comfort in the other woman's body heat as they sat on the couch in the athlete's living room watching _Friends_ reruns. Being in Brittany's presence had helped Ali feel remarkably better as the night went on. Obviously, her situation still sucked, but at least she didn't feel as devastated as when she'd first seen that horrific video of Emily and Paige earlier in the day.

"Britt…do you think I'll be a good mom?" The blonde doesn't even know what sparked that question, but she was honestly curious what the older woman thought.

Brittany offered her a soft smile, "I think you'll be a _great_ mom, Ali."

"Why do you say that?" The teacher's voice was so soft as the insecurities she always struggled to keep in check came on full force.

"Because of how protective and resilient you are," Ali felt a warmth spread through her chest as her best friend elaborated with nothing but sincerity in her tone, "You put everyone's needs before your own without even thinking about it. You're honestly one of the most selfless people I know. And God, Ali you just _always_ find some way to get back up and keep fighting no matter what life throws at you. _Any_ child would be lucky to have you as a mom."

Tears collected in Alison's eyes. _Maybe I can do this after all…but God it would be so much better to raise this child with Emily…even though this is so NOT how I wanted us to come together at all._

"If…if Em and I don't work things out…can you help me?"

Brittany tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "I'll help you no matter what, Ali. You just have to _let_ me."

Alison sniffled as Britt's underlying message was made clear. After a few moments she whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about A.D…or the game starting again after Charlotte died."

"Why didn't you?" Ali could hear the hurt in Britt's voice, "I have money, access to resources…I could have helped you before…" Brittany had to pause mid-sentence when her voice became laced in emotion, "Before they _violated_ you and Emily like this."

Though she'd started off the night mad as hell at Emily as her inherent protectiveness for Alison came on full force; Brittany realized how fucked up this situation was for _both_ the swim coach and teacher as time wore on. Emily was probably just as confused and conflicted Ali…and probably assumed she didn't stand a romantic chance with the blonde so therefore went running back to her ex-girlfriend. As much as Brittany loved Alison (and you'd better believe she'd _always_ take her best friend's side in a situation), she understood Emily's perspective on whatever was brewing between them romantically as well. In the swim coach's mind, there was no chance for the two of them to become an "us" because Ali had yet to verbalize how she truly felt. But the basketball superstar didn't understand how Emily couldn't _see_ how much Alison loved her. It was obvious to literally everyone else…

The English teacher had to look down as the reality of the situation washed over her once again. Brittany rubbed soothing circles with the pad of her thumb along the back of Ali's hand and the teacher let out a heavy sigh. After she'd somewhat collected her bearings, the blonde looked back up at the woman who was just so inherently good and revealed, "I didn't want to get you involved…because I didn't want you to get hurt. You've worked _so_ hard to get to where you're at…living your dream and inspiring people across the world to do the same. I didn't want A.D. to take that all away from you."

"Ali…"

"A.D. targets everyone I love, Britt. They'd come after you and your family just to spite me and I couldn't risk that happening."

"Ali, I understand being overly protective probably better than anyone…just ask my sister-in-law," The two of them shared a look of understanding and Ali can't help but slightly smile as the memories of a ranting and raving Brittany from five years ago came flashing through her mind. The tall brunette had been convinced that Bradley's at the time fiancé, Eva, was only with him because he worked for his sister, who was quickly becoming one of the wealthiest athletes on the planet, only to be proven wrong time and time again as Eva proved just how much she loved the younger Johnson sibling. Luckily, Bradley didn't hold it against his sister for too long that she was reluctant to accept his new fiancé at first.

"But _please_ let me help you. I can't undo all the damage A.D.'s already done, but I want to prevent them from hurting you and the others further. Don't you want this game to be over?"

"Of course, I do Britt. It's just…A.D.'s outsmarted every law enforcement agency that's tried to stop them. What makes you think Reggie would be any more successful?"

"Um…maybe because he's an ex-senior operative from the CIA and not a dumbass police officer from Rosewood?" Brittany deadpanned like it was obvious and Ali had to admit her best friend had a point.

A minute of silence passed between them before Ali decided to stop being stubborn for once in her life and let someone actually help her potentially get out of this insanity, "Okay."

"Are you sure, Ali? I want you to be comfortable with this." Brittany searched her face for any signs of hesitation.

"Yes, I'm sure. Call Reggie…maybe an outsider's perspective is what will finally solve this mess."

Brittany offered her a reassuring smile as she dialed Reggie's number, "Knowing Reggie he'll put all the pieces together before breakfast."

Spencer always said hope breeds eternal misery, but Alison allowed herself to be hopeful. After all, if Brittany believed in the head of her security/badass lawyer that much, maybe Alison should as well?

* * *

Hanna got them to their desired location in New York City in under three hours and miraculously they had all made it there in one piece-despite the designer's borderline reckless driving. But now they were met with a tall iron gate that was preventing them from getting in the drive way of the huge mansion where supposedly Alison's cell phone (and they hoped the blonde herself) was located.

Hanna parked her car a few houses down from whoever's place they were trying to get to and the four of them got out of the vehicle. When they made it back over to the tall iron gate and got a better look at the property before them all their mouths hung open. _Wow, this place is majestic…_

As always, Hanna was the first to break the silence, "Okay, I'm going to be pissed at Ali if she did just come all this way to visit a friend without telling us; but then I'm gonna ask if we can spend the weekend because holy shit look at this place!"

"Let's make sure Alison is actually here first, Han," Spencer gently reminded the feisty blonde.

"Well how do you propose we even get into this place to find out Spence?" Hanna lightheartedly fired back at the tall brunette and Emily would have laughed at the exchange if she wasn't so focused on finding Ali.

Before Spencer can offer a sarcastic reply of some sort an unfamiliar voice asked from behind them, "Can I help you ladies with something?"

Emily jumped nearly a foot off the ground, not expecting anyone else to be outside at this time of night. And from the gasps her friend's let out, she can only assume they were just as startled.

The four of them turned around and were met with the curious gaze of a tall muscular African American man who looked to be in his mid-40s. _Shit, we didn't even discuss how we were going to play this._

Eventually Aria managed to ask as she motioned to the mansion behind them, "Do you know who lives here?"

The man just looked at them like the answer was obvious as he replied, "My boss."

"Your boss? Okay, um…who's that?"

"Why do you need to know?" His voice was stern yet there was an underlying gentleness to it. Emily found it oddly comforting, yet that didn't stop her from firing off an array of questions at the man.

"Look, we haven't heard from our best friend in almost ten hours and we're really worried about her, okay? We tracked her phone and according to the GPS it's located in your boss' house and we're assuming she's in there too. So, can you help us or what?"

A knowing look flashed across the man's brown eyes before he nodded and went over to the keypad that would open the iron gate and punched in a code.

"You guys were able to track Alison's phone? Pretty impressive considering it died shortly after she got here."

"Just because it's dead doesn't mean it's untraceable," Aria mused as Emily hurriedly asked just to make sure, "Alison's here?"

The iron gate slowly started to open as whoever this man was explained, "Yeah, she got here earlier this evening. She and my boss are best friends…practically family."

"If Alison's best friends with your boss why has she never mentioned this person to us, you know here _other_ best friends?" Spencer asked as the four of them walked up the mansion's drive way, while the iron gate closed behind them.

"From what I understand Alison's relationship with my boss is like the only one she was ever able to keep out of 'the toxicity of Rosewood'-her words, not mine-and she was determined to keep it that way."

"You still haven't told us _who_ your boss is," Hanna pointed out and the man just offered them a smirk as he rang the doorbell while the four of them stayed further back from the door.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Less than ten seconds later the door swung open to reveal a rather annoyed looking-holy fucking shit Brittany Johnson?! Ali's best friends with like _the_ greatest woman's basketball player on the planet?! What?! She's guessing the others are just as shocked when utterances of "damn" and "are you serious?" leave all their lips. The superstar athlete is in Nike sweats and Emily can't help but notice she looks even more beautiful in person than on TV.

"Reggie why in the hell are you ringing my doorbell at one in the morning? You've worked for me for how long now? You know you can just walk in."

"Normally I would, Brittany…but I'm not alone." Reggie side stepped out of the way so the tall brunette could see who else was at her front door at such an unseemly hour. As her brilliant blue eyes settled on all of them, Brittany lightly crossed her arms over her chest. Emily didn't miss the particularly heated glare that she shot her way. _Fuck, what did Ali tell her?_

"Well, well this is certainly a surprise." Brittany's tone was a mixture of actual surprise and condescension. The tension continued to mount over the next thirty seconds as the athlete just continued to stare at all of them. Emily could almost feel her skin crawl. Much like Ali's, Brittany's blue eyes bore straight into your soul.

 _Finally_ , the basketball great moved out of the large doorway and gestured for them to come in. Once they'd all made it inside and gaped at the mansion's interior furnishings, Brittany noted, "You guys must be hungry or thirsty at least after making that long drive."

She walked further into the mansion with Reggie flanking her side. After the four of them exchanged looks they quickly followed after the duo not wanting to get lost. Emily was hoping that Ali would be in the kitchen or at least the adjoining living room. When she didn't see the beautiful blonde in either, the swim coach couldn't help but worriedly blurt out, "Where's Ali?"

When the athlete turned to face her, Emily pleaded, " _Please_ let me see her. I really _need_ to talk to her."

The two shared a look of understanding and had a damn near full blown conversation between their eyes before Brittany cleared her throat and revealed, "She's in the library. I'll take you to her."

Emily let out a heavy breath and wiped away the tears that had collected in her eyes as the two began to walk out of the kitchen.

Before they were completely out of the kitchen, Brittany turned and addressed Spencer, Aria, and Hanna with a genuine smile spread across her face, "Please feel free to help yourselves to whatever. And if you're tired there's like a million guest bedrooms in this house. Reggie will show you where they are."

"Oh, so I'm just gonna put all the pieces together of this mystery _and_ play host?" The muscular man sassed back at his boss in a light-hearted manner.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was under the impression that I paid you so well because you could multi task," Brittany jokingly fired back as she arched a perfect eyebrow at Reggie. The banter caused Spencer, Aria, and Hanna to chuckle and even Emily found it humorous, though she was much too focused on going over what she was going to say to Alison in her head to verbalize her amusement.

After a few moments, Reggie crossed his arms over his broad chest and huffed out, "Alright fine, but I'm not cooking. That would be a disaster…"

Brittany just rolled her eyes at the man before turning around once more to head in the direction of the library, which for all Emily knew could be a half mile away.

The two walked down multiple hallways for what must have been at least five minutes before Brittany abruptly stopped and faced her.

A conflicted look spread across the taller woman's face, like she was having an internal debate on whether to say something to the swim coach. After an awkward ten seconds of Emily shifting nervously on her feet, Brittany lightly crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"Look, Emily…I cannot even begin to imagine how you must be feeling about everything that's happened recently. And while rationally I know that _both_ you and Alison were violated by this…pregnancy," The basketball star looked pained to even phrase what A.D. had done to her and Ali in such a conventional manner. Emily fought to suppress her tears as the reality of their fucked-up situation washed over her once again, "I'm _always_ going to take Ali's side, because I love her. And frankly she needs someone in her life who will stand up and defend her, instead of questioning the motives behind every single thing she does," Brittany's words cut the swim coach deep. Emily knew that she and the others had a horrible tendency of accusing Alison of shit before she'd even had a chance to explain herself, "So, with that being said if you came all this way to break Alison's heart further…" Emily gulped as the athlete stepped right up in her face, "I won't hesitate to kick your ass straight out of my house," A tense few seconds passed between them before Brittany stepped back and gave Emily some room to breathe.

"Why are you here Emily?"

At the taller woman's question, Emily finally snapped, "Because I love her! Okay?! Because I've _always_ loved her! And even though this is the most fucked up way for us to _finally_ come together…I _know_ that we belong together," Emily's chest was heaving as tears streaked down her cheeks. She was so fucking tired of running from her feelings for Alison and come hell or high water she was putting it all out there tonight. Her heart wouldn't survive it if she didn't.

When Brittany brought her into a gentle hug, it took Emily a few seconds to react to the embrace because she was so shocked; yet she eventually melted into the hold. It was so comforting and suddenly Emily understood why Alison had fought so hard to keep _this_ friendship unblemished by -A and Rosewood.

"Five seconds ago, you were threatening to kick me out of your house, now you're hugging me?" Emily inquired as she hugged the other woman back.

"Sorry about that…I'm just irrationally protective over Ali."

Emily sniffled, "I understand that feeling." There was a reason Ali deemed her "Killer" in middle school after all.

When their hug eventually broke, Emily looked up at Brittany and honestly stated, "I'm really glad she has you."

Brittany smiled at her, "I'm really glad she has you too, Emily. But please, for the love of God stop making out with your ex-girlfriends."

 _Oh shit. How does Brittany know about my make out session with Paige?!_

* * *

When Emily _finally_ made it into the library, she was met with the most adorable sight. Alison was curled up with a blanket reading by the room's bay window. And despite there being ample amount of seating options, Ali was sitting on the floor. Emily smiled at the sight and felt her heart flutter-the teacher was just so precious. _God, I love her so much._

Ali doesn't even notice someone approaching her, because she's so enthralled in what she's reading. Emily briefly wondered if she should make her presence known, but she didn't have to debate for very long as Alison's vibrant blues eyes looked up at her seconds later.

"Em…" Ali looked like she couldn't believe the brunette was actually real as the swim coach sat down next to her, "What are you doing here?"

Emily tenderly brushed a loose strand of Alison's blonde hair behind her ear before she explained, "No one knew where you were and I was so worried that Aria tracked your phone. God Ali, I was so scared that A.D. did something to you."

"A.D. did do something…" The teacher mumbled as she looked away from the brunette.

Emily's heart beat increased rapidly, "What did A.D. do to make you leave Rosewood so abruptly?"

When Alison looked back at her there were tears threatening to fall from her ever expressive eyes, "Sent me a text and video."

Emily felt her heart clench as she quietly asked, "Of what?" (even though she has a pretty good idea what it was of considering Brittany's comment about making out with her ex-girlfriends...)

"You and Paige…kissing and talking about getting back together," Alison looked completely shattered and all Emily wanted to do was wrap her in her arms and never let her go, but maybe how the blonde felt when she saw that video could _finally_ lead them into a discussion about their obvious feelings for one another.

"Why would seeing that cause you to flee Rosewood?" Emily tried to ask the question as delicately as possible, but failed rather miserably.

"Because I felt my heart crack inside me, Em! And Brittany's the only person in my life who doesn't judge me for what I'm feeling."

Tears collected in Emily's eyes, "And what were you feeling?" She felt like an asshole for asking, because it was pretty damn obvious _what_ Alison was feeling; but she needed to hear the other woman say it.

Alison doesn't even try to stop the tears that are cascading down her cheeks, "Devastated. Alone. It was the same feeling I had when I walked into the Ice Ball and saw you and Paige slow dancing. The same feeling I had when I got out of Welby and found out you were dating Sabrina."

Ali's voice was laced with so much pain, it's a miracle the brunette didn't have a breakdown next to her.

"I'm always going to be your second choice." _What? Ali, no. You're my first choice, always. How do you not know that?_ "I love you, more profoundly than I've ever loved anyone, but it's not enough."

Emily's eyes widened when she heard the three words she'd been yearning to hear from the blonde for almost a decade come out of Alison's mouth.

"You love me?"

Alison used the sleeve of the St. John's sweatshirt she was wearing to wipe the tears from her cheeks, before she locked gazes with Emily and declared, "Yes. That's why I kissed you that night."

Emily was floored and had to take a few moments to gather her bearings. _Holy shit. Alison's in love with me?_ "Why didn't you say that when I asked you about the kiss?"

Ali offered the brunette a sad look, "Because my family fucked me up so badly that I'm terrified of verbalizing my feelings for fear of being rejected. Not to mention I just got manipulated into loving and marrying a man who tortured me. The only reason I even feel safe enough to open up now is because I'm at Brittany's house. If you confirm my worst fears, I know she'll be here to pick up the pieces and put me back together again."

The teacher looked away from the brunette when her voice became laced with emotion. Gently, Emily grabbed Alison's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"You won't need Brittany to put you back together, Ali."

As the blonde registered the honesty behind her words, she tentatively glanced at Emily.

"The _only_ reason I kissed Paige was because I thought I didn't have a chance with you," Ali's eyes softened and Emily reached up with her free hand to tenderly caress her cheek, "If you had told me how you felt that night, I never would have even _looked_ at her. You're not my second choice, Alison. She is."

Alison smiled at her and Emily saw hope return to her angel's majestic eyes, "Do you really mean that? You're not just saying that because of…" Alison trailed off and the brunette knew she was referring to Emily's child that was growing inside her.

Emily shifted even closer to blonde as she _finally_ revealed, "Ali, I've been in love with you since I was fourteen. I am _still_ so in love you. I want to be with you more than anything."

Given their close proximity, Ali spoke in a tone that was just a little above a whisper, "I want to be with you too, Em. I want to be an "us." I've wanted that for a _really_ long time."

The swim coach smiled at hearing those words. _Was she really getting the girl of her dreams against all discouragement that could be?_

Emily's eyes kept flickering down to Alison's lips. She didn't know if the blonde would be okay if she kissed her right now, but God she really wanted to. Not catching any signs of hesitation in Alison's eyes, Emily slowly leaned in. Alison met her half way and Emily melted as their lips tenderly brushed together.

Emily smiled into the kiss a few seconds later because _this_ was the woman she wanted to kiss for the rest of her life. Next to Alison DiLaurentis, Paige didn't stand a chance in hell. It wasn't an overly passionate kiss by any means, because they were both exhausted, but for Emily it was perfect because it was _with_ her Ali.

When they broke apart their foreheads rested together and Alison quietly revealed as she gently held onto Emily's face, "A.D. texted me that Estella doesn't get her Pip in the end."

Emily gazed at the woman who was her entire world and declared with as much fire as she could muster, "Fuck A.D., Ali. You _have_ me. No matter what, okay? Whatever _we_ decide to do about this…pregnancy, I'll be there every step of the way."

Alison smiled at her through her now happy tears, "I love you, Emily."

"I love you too, Ali. We're in this _together_."

* * *

 **So there's chapter one everyone! What do we all think? Can I just say that it is so much fun for me to write Brittany from Guardian Angel into canon PLL. Like Ali really needs a best friend like her on the actual show! Our ladies talked about that awful kiss with Paige and sorted through their feelings-God, I love when Emison communicates (I wish they did it more on the actual show lol). Next chapter will delve into the mystery aspect of the story-what will Reggie uncover? Also, expect lots of fluffy Emison (I mean really that's the best Emison)!**


	2. Chapter 2: Underlying Motives

**Hello beautiful people! I really wanted to get this second chapter out to you all before 7x15 aired just in case it lets me down like 7x14 did! I'm really hoping they do Ali's coming out sequence/scene justice, but knowing the PLL writers they're going to find some way to screw it up lol. It would make me so happy if Ali actually came out as bisexual, because she's one of my favorite fictional characters ever and as a fellow bisexual woman the representation for the LGBTQ community would be amazing! Also, let's hope 7x15 is good Emison-wise. Hey, if nothing else it's Paige's last episode (can you hear me screaming GURL BYE for miles and miles?!)**

 **Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter of You're Not My Second Choice! We've got Emison fluff, flashbacks, and A LOT of answers! If the timeline seems off for canon events in PLL in this story I apologize, but honestly it's so hard to know how much time has passed between episodes/seasons in PLL. So...I guess I'm asking for a little creative freedom here. Hopefully that's okay with everyone! Also, for the purposes of this story Archer was obsessed with Charlotte, but she wasn't romantically interested in him (I know that departs from canon PLL, but sorry not sorry lol).**

 **As always let me know what you think! And for the reviewers who are wondering if I plan on writing Brittany into all of my Emison stories-I mean she's fantastic, so why not lol?**

* * *

You're Not My Second Choice

Chapter Two: Underlying Motives

When Emily woke up she momentarily forgot where she was as her eyes took in the unfamiliar bedroom; but almost immediately a small smile spread across her face when she looked down and noted how blissfully content Alison was. The blonde's head was resting against the brunette's shoulder-much like it had been a few weeks ago when they'd fallen asleep on the English teacher's couch after they'd kissed for an extended amount of time-and her arm was draped over Emily's toned middle. The swim coach could _really_ get used to waking up to this _every_ morning. Alison was so breathtakingly beautiful and _God, she loves me...has loved me for a really long time. Wow._

Emily relished in being able to hold the woman who meant everything to her and placed a lingering kiss on the crown of Alison's head. _I'm never letting you go ever fucking again._ The brunette's eyes flickered down to the blonde's stomach… _either of you._

" _Em…I know it's really late and you're probably exhausted…" Ali trailed off as the two of them finished getting ready for bed in one of Brittany's mansion's many bathrooms. Emily offered her an encouraging look to voice whatever thought she was having while she finished flossing her teeth._

 _Taking a deep breath, the teacher quietly inquired, "I was just wondering if you'd had any thoughts about my pregnancy," This got Emily's undivided attention and nervous blue eyes looked down as she whispered her final question, "About…our baby?"_

 _It had been over a week since A.D. had made the bombshell revelation that Ali was actually pregnant with Emily's biological child, and the blonde really just wanted to know where the swim coach was at with their…situation. And if them finally admitting their feelings for one another and voicing their desire to be together changed anything._

 _If she's being honest, Ali knew as soon as she read Emily's name on that necklace that there was no way she could go through with terminating her pregnancy. When she'd thought she'd be getting rid of a combination of her and Archer's genes, it was different. But terminating a baby that was biologically her sweet Emily's? Her heart couldn't handle that…Hell, that was probably why A.D. inseminated her with Emily's egg-they knew she loved the brunette too much to ever destroy something that came from her._

 _Emily's soulful brown eyes searched her face after Ali tentatively glanced back up, and a look of realization flashed across them when it became clear what Alison was trying to tell her._

 _After a few moments, the swimmer tenderly grabbed her hands and offered her a soft smile, "Well…I've been dreaming about having kids with you since I was in high school," Alison melted at Emily's sincere words. She knew the brunette wasn't just saying this because she thought it was what Alison wanted to hear. She really meant it, "Of course, I thought we'd be having kids years down the road…" The blonde let out a quiet laugh, because this obviously wasn't how she planned on becoming a mother with Emily either, "And I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not going to love…our child any less just because they were created in a pretty messed up way."_

 _Alison had to blink back tears as she adoringly looked at the woman whose huge heart continually amazed her, "Neither will I."_

 _Oh my God are Em and I really on the same page with this?_

 _The blonde couldn't contain her joy as she leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed Emily soundly. Sure, she was still scared shitless of becoming a mom, but with Emily by her side she knew she could do it (well okay, maybe with a combination of Emily, Mrs. Fields, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, Brittany, and the basketball superstar's family she could do it)._

 _As their kiss progressed, Emily wrapped her arms securely around Alison's waist as the blonde's hands tangled in her luscious hair. Their tight embrace made the teacher's heart flutter. She'd never felt so safe in her entire life. Ali hadn't intended for the kiss to turn into a mini make out session, but she was definitely not complaining when it did. She'd been craving her mermaid for years, and now that she finally had her-she was never letting her go again._

 _When it became difficult to breathe and their kiss eventually broke, Alison burrowed into Emily's hold and sighed contently. She couldn't even put into words how happy she felt in this moment. And to think less than twelve hours ago she was convinced Emily was in love with Paige. Fuck A.D. for making me doubt what Em and I have always had. Although, that video inadvertently got us to talk about our feelings…so I guess I kind of owe A.D. a 'thank you.' Well, a 'thank you' I would deliver with a fist to the face…_

 _Emily's strong arms drew Alison in even further to their hug, before she honestly declared, "There's no one else I'd want to be the mother of my child. I love you, Ali."_

 _Alison could feel herself falling even harder for the girl who made her believe in happy endings, "I love you too, Em. So much."_

Emily noticed Ali beginning to rouse from her slumber and lightly ran her fingers through the blonde's hair, occasionally scratching her scalp. The brunette can imagine that being pregnant made waking up at times rather unpleasant and she wanted to provide as much comfort as possible.

When Alison's brilliant blue eyes fluttered open, a soft smile spread across the swim coach's face, "Good morning, beautiful."

Ali's cheeks flushed at the term of endearment and Emily loved the clear affect she had on the other woman.

When the blonde greeted her with a "Good morning, mermaid" a few seconds later however, she was the one who was blushing. _Damn, Ali's pre-disappearance nickname gets me every time._

Emily noted the small smirk Ali was sporting and giggled at the breathtaking woman before she inquired, "How'd you sleep?"

A look of pure adoration overtook her girl's face, "Really well actually. You're really comfy, Em."

Ali tilted her head and kissed Emily's cheek seconds later, before she sat up and giggled at the brunette's pout.

"I'd love to stay in bed and cuddle with you all day long, but…I really have to pee."

* * *

Alison intertwined her fingers with Emily's as they walked through the mansion's many hallways towards the main kitchen. The teacher giggled at the taller woman because she was completely enthralled by _everything_ in Brittany's estate-from the expansive library, to the huge bathrooms, and of course the heavenly mattresses.

"I _still_ cannot believe Brittany Johnson's one of your best friends and you never said anything, Ali."

"Well, in my defense when we became best friends she was still in college and not making tens of millions of dollars annually. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I bragged about and exploited my relationship with her _just_ for material things?"

Emily playfully relented moments later, "Okay, I _guess_ I see your point…I just can't believe you didn't mention your friendship on that night we all got wasted and Spencer, Hanna, and Aria revealed they had a _huge_ girl crush on Brittany."

Alison quirked a playful eyebrow at the brunette as she pulled her through the final hallway before the main living room and kitchen would come into view, "If I recall Em…you also revealed you had a crush on her that night..."

"Well, excuse me, Ali. I didn't exactly know that you considered her family…and, I mean, c'mon…have you _seen_ Brittany? Not to mention she's really friendly…Well, for the most part…"

Alison chuckled at the swim coach's rambling. Em was just too cute when she got frazzled and over explained herself.

The teacher brought Em's hand up to her lips and placed a reassuring kiss on tanned skin, "Relax, babe," Ali smiled because she knew the use of the pet name was going to make Emily swoon, "If I didn't think of Brittany as a sister, I'd totally be crushing on her too. But also, not really, because I have you, so…"

Alison squealed when Emily wrapped her arms around her from behind and peppered her neck with feather light kisses, "Smart move amending that last statement, DiLaurentis."

The blonde turned in Emily's arms so that they were face to face. After some excruciating long seconds, she leaned up and tenderly kissed Emily-hoping to convey that the brunette had _nothing_ to worry about as far as her having any semblance of feelings for someone else went. When she pulled back slightly from their embrace, Emily's eyes were hooded over and Alison smirked, "What can I say Fields? You'll forever be my number one girl crush."

"Oh my God they're going to be one of _those_ couples," Hanna's voice filtered in from the living room/kitchen area and Alison just winked at Emily in response, which caused the tanned beauty to blush profusely. _Yeah, we are going to be one of those couples-cheesy as hell and hopelessly in love._

As the two of them emerged from the hallway holding hands, Aria quipped back at the designer, "Um…have you seen how you and Caleb act Han? You're just as corny."

"This coming from the girl who wrote a romance novel with her fiancé…" The feisty blonde deadpanned and Spencer snorted at the retort.

Her three best friends were sitting at _one_ of the breakfast bars in Brittany's kitchen, feasting on what looked like an extensive assortment of healthy looking brunch foods. They were all still in their borrowed pajamas (which of course had the New York Liberty's emblem plastered all over them-Brittany being the team's superstar athlete got her loads of free merchandise). Ali smiled at the scene because it was the most relaxed she'd seen Spencer, Hanna, and Aria in weeks (hell, maybe even months).

Aria playfully swatted Hanna for her comment, before she glanced over at Emily and Alison who were now standing by the kitchen island and tentatively asked, "So…can we assume that you two are together now?"

A bright smile spread across Alison's face at the tiny brunette's question. And when she looked over her shoulder at Emily, who was hugging her from behind, the swim coach looked just as ecstatic.

"Pretty sure those smiles give us our answer, Aria," Spencer noted as she lightly crossed her arms over her chest and sported a soft smile.

"Well, can I just say I am so glad you two figured your shit out, because I don't know how much more of the longing 'I'm so in love with you, but I'm not going to vocalize it' looks I could take," Hanna bluntly declared as she took a sip of her coffee and completely changed the subject, "Damn, this coffee's good."

Ali laughed at the blonde's statement, before she inquired, "Did Brittany make it? Because she makes the _best_ coffee." _God, I really wish I could drink some. Although I could probably make myself some tea…_

"Yes. _And_ she cooked all this food," Hanna answered before sending a playfully pointed look Alison's way, "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook for being best friends with a global superstar and keeping it a secret, Ali."

"Are you saying I can't have best friends outside of our group?" Alison joked as she walked over to the coffee maker and poured Emily a cup of the steaming goodness. Her heart also fluttered when she noticed that Brittany had made her some decaffeinated tea and left a note next to the kettle- " _I can only imagine how much it sucks to not be able to drink caffeine, but I hope this somewhat suffices."_ Ali took a sip of the tea and smiled. _Yeah, this suffices._

When she handed Emily her mug of coffee moments later the brunette softly answered with a "thanks, babe" and Alison's knees damn near buckled.

"No," Hanna rolled her eyes with fake annoyance before she used her fork to articulate her point, "I'm just saying you can't have super famous best friends with millions of connections…and dollars. I mean c'mon Ali hook your other best friends up!"

"She _does_ have a point there, Ali," Brittany entered the kitchen from the patio door that led out to the expansive backyard area and Ali just shook her head at the taller woman as she flashed her trademark smile and approached the teacher. Unlike the rest of them, Brittany was showered and dressed for the day, sporting a white V-neck t-shirt, black Nike leggings, and of course Nike tennis shoes. _She probably went for her morning run and got a work out in before anyone else was even awake…that's why she's the professional athlete._

Brittany pulled her into a gentle hug and Alison sighed contently when the taller woman kissed the crown of her head, right over the spot where Charlotte had bashed her skull in all those years ago. Ali had always found the gesture so soothing and today was no different. When they broke from their embrace, Brittany's soulful blue eyes searched her face for way longer than they normally would to access how Alison was feeling.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just… _love_ seeing you this happy. It's refreshing. And you deserve it, Ali."

Brittany gently squeezed her hand in a reassuring manner before she turned to address Spencer, Hanna, and Aria, "I hope everything tastes okay. I know it's ultra-healthy, but, you know, professional athlete and all…I don't really have anything in my house that's not healthy."

Alison walked back over to Emily and leaned into the brunette's warm side. The swim coach wrapped her arm around Ali's waist and kissed her temple as the teacher took another sip of her tea. Ali felt her breath catch in her throat because she doesn't think she's ever felt this _loved_ in her entire life and it's just...really nice.

Spencer's sincere reply to Brittany snapped Ali out of her love-struck thoughts, "Everything tastes wonderful. Seriously, thank you…for breakfast…and for letting us stay here last night," The brainy brunette paused before she revealed, "It's just been nice to be able to breathe for a little while."

Choruses of earnest "thank you" echoed from Aria and Hanna as well.

Her best friend shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal, "Well, you're all welcome here anytime…but I can't promise that it will be this peaceful when you come back. My mom, brother and his family are all out of town for the weekend…so, it's eerily quiet right now."

"Wait…your family all lives here with you?" Alison could see how surprising Aria found the information. Brittany's relationship with her family was truly special. For the five of them, even though they loved some members of their respective families (for Ali, this was pretty much just Jason), Ali doesn't think any of them would willingly live in the same house (or mansion) with them as adults.

"Yeah, we're all really tight knit. Plus, this place is huge so if we ever do get upset with or sick of one another we can just disperse into separate wings of the estate," Brittany explained as she hopped up on the edge of the granite counter top so she could see all five of them as she talked.

"That must be nice…having a family like that," Spencer observed with a sad smile. Aria rubbed the brunette's arm in support and Ali's heart clenched for her friend. Spencer's world had been rattled with Mary Drake's revelation and it didn't help that Peter Hastings thought it was more important to track Ali's mysterious aunt down than being at the hospital for his daughter after she'd been shot.

"It is. I mean I've always appreciated having them especially after my dad abandoned us, but as I've gotten older I've realized how lucky I am. I _never_ want to take them for granted, you know?"

"So…your dad's an asshole too?" Hanna asked with her typical lack of tact as she continued eating her food.

Brittany laughed at the designer's bluntness, before she explained, "You could say that. He left my mom with two kids to raise, a mortgage, and a shit ton of credit card debt. Even after my mom filed for divorce and there was a court order in place he refused to give her child support money and fled New York."

"Damn, that's brutal," Hanna commented as she gave the basketball star a compassionate look-knowing all too well how horrible fathers can be.

"Yeah, but the worst part had to be after word got around that I signed record breaking contracts to play basketball overseas and with the New York Liberty, he randomly showed up on my doorstep…asking for money."

"Oh my God, what did you do?"

Alison and Brittany locked eyes as the memories from the aftermath of that encounter came flooding back.

 _Alison could still feel electricity coursing through her body following her meet up with Emily in the warehouse. Jesus, one look into those soulful brown eyes and Ali knew she was done for. And God the way Emily had held her so protectively in her arms. Fuck, it was going to be impossible to stay away from Rosewood now-not like she really wanted to anyway…_

 _The blonde entered Brittany's apartment near St. John's University and let out a heavy sigh as she started walking towards the living room, "Hey, I'm sorry to show up like this unannounced, but I really need to talk to someone and Cece's not answering-"_

 _Alison stopped rambling when her eyes settled on her kindhearted friend who was slumped into her couch. There was a half empty bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table. What the hell? Brittany never drinks, like ever. And shit…it looks like she's been crying. Who the fuck hurt her? I'm going to kill them!_

 _Ali sat down next to the soon to be professional athlete and softly inquired, "Hey, what's wrong?"_

 _Brittany repositioned herself so that she could face Ali and painfully choked out, "My dad stopped by tonight," Tears formed in the tall brunette's eyes, "He didn't say anything about being sorry for abandoning his family or that he missed me," Sobs raked through her best friend's body as she revealed, "He just wanted money, Ali."_

 _The runaway pulled the taller woman into her arms and tried to soothe her. Next to Emily, Brittany was the sweetest person she'd ever met. She didn't deserve to feel any kind of pain. Alison whispered comforting words into Brittany's ear as she ran her fingers through the other woman's long, wavy brunette hair._

 _A few minutes later, after Brittany had calmed down remarkably, Ali tentatively asked, "What did you do when he showed up?"_

 _Her best friend pulled back from their embrace and answered with regret seeping into her tone, "I told him to go fuck himself and to stay out of my life. God, doesn't that make me just as bad as him?"_

 _Alison grabbed the other woman's hand and stressed, "No. You don't owe him anything, Britt. He selfishly chose to walk out of your life fifteen years ago, okay?" She could tell Brittany was hanging onto her every word, "Letting him back into your life now that you've 'made it' would just cause you more pain in the long run. And you don't deserve to feel any pain my beautiful friend. Besides you've got your mom and Bradley who love you unconditionally. You don't need him."_

 _Brittany sniffled and used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to get the rest of the tears wiped off her face, "Thanks, Ali. It's nice to know I have you too."_

 _The blonde smirked, "Yes you do. Well…not in an official capacity. I'm technically still dead."_

 _Her remark made Brittany laugh and Ali smiled at the sound-there's my girl._

" _Damn, and here I thought you could actually come to a game of mine."_

 _Ali offered the other woman a warm smile, "Well, if I can't go to any of your games when you get back in the U.S…Vivian will."_

" _Yeah, but…I love Ali so much more than Vivian."_

" _Ugh you and me both. That wig drives me insane."_

 _Brittany chuckled at her reasoning, before she changed the direction of their conversation as she got up to get a bottle of water out of the fridge (to presumably try and prevent a hangover), "So…what did you come here to talk to me about?"_

 _Alison looked at her best friend hesitantly when she sat back down on the couch, because fuck-did she still want to talk about this?_

" _Don't think my daddy issues get you off the hook, Ali. What happened with Emily? You met up with her, right?"_

 _Shit. Even when she's buzzed, Brittany reads me like a damn book…_

 _The blonde glanced down at her fingers as she quietly explained, "Yeah. I apologized for the way I treated her before I disappeared…and we hugged," Ali could feel tears pooling in her eyes, "Britt, I…I realized something tonight…"_

 _The brunette reached out and grabbed her trembling hands. Ali drew strength from the simple gesture and lifted her gaze to meet her friend's nonjudgmental one. The runaway took a calming breath before she whispered, "I love her…like I'm in love with her."_

" _Oh my God, Ali…" Brittany didn't seem all that shocked by her revelation (hell, she'd been getting Ali to open up about her stronger than friendship feelings for Emily since they'd met)-more so just shocked that Alison had actually said it out loud._

" _Of course, I didn't have the strength to actually tell her that, but I had to tell someone…But now I just have all these questions. Like does this make me gay? Bisexual? But if Emily's the only girl I've ever been attracted to am I straight except when it comes to her?" Alison was working herself up as she rambled._

" _Hey!" Brittany squeezed her hand to stop her rapid-fire questions and a conflicted look overtook Ali's face as her mind raced a million miles a minute, "Loving Emily makes you Ali. Your sexuality doesn't define who you are, it just describes who you may be attracted to," The blonde felt her heart warm at the taller woman's words, "It's just a socially constructed label. For some people, like yours truly, it's important to verbalize and hone that facet of their identity, but there's nothing wrong with choosing to be private about it. And if you do discover that you identify as gay, bi, pan, whatever, just know that it doesn't change the fact that you're an amazing, kick ass young woman," Ali was in awe of her best friend's perspective. If everyone in the world viewed things like Brittany, she wouldn't be freaking out about what her loving Emily meant about her sexuality, "Don't focus on the labels, Ali. Focus on your heart," Brittany offered her a playful smile as she finished, "Focus on that mermaid who you love against all discouragement that could be."_

 _Alison bashfully looked down, because she was just so overcome with feels._

" _And even if the rest of the world turns on you for being who you are and loving who you love, you'll still have me, Ali. I'm not going anywhere," Ali knew that Brittany was telling the truth and for the hundredth time since the brunette had found her in that alleyway she thanked her lucky stars that she had her._

 _But feeling somewhat devious Ali jokingly threw back, "Yeah except to Paris for six months." In all honesty, Alison was thrilled for her friend, she was just going to miss her like crazy while she played basketball overseas._

 _Brittany rolled her eyes at the somewhat troublesome blonde, "Ali, you know you can always get a hold of me. And plus, my mom and Bradley will still be in New York a majority of the time, so you can just hang out with them if you're feeling really Johnson deprived."_

" _But what if you meet someone in Paris and fall head over heels in love? You'll forget all about me…" Ali knew she was being somewhat dramatic, but Brittany had become such an anchor in her chaotic life she didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost her._

 _The tall brunette just shook her head, "Impossible, Ali. You mean way too much to me. Plus, I'm not even trying to get in a relationship right now. I'm just trying to learn how to do this whole professional athlete thing."_

"I pretty much just told him to go fuck himself and to stay out of my life. At first I thought I was being too harsh, but I was really just trying to protect myself…and my mom and brother. My dad had already caused us enough pain, he didn't need to be let back in the picture to inevitably do it again," Ali was still amazed at times how Brittany could just bare her soul to damn near complete strangers. The teacher wished she was secure enough in her person-hood to be that vulnerable. _Well, give yourself a little credit Alison you're always been vulnerable with Brittany and you're finally letting Emily in…_

A heavy silence filled the kitchen, before Emily quietly mumbled, "Wow, I got really lucky in the dad department."

Aria smiled at the tanned brunette, "Yeah, you did, Em. We were all _so_ jealous growing up."

"Wait, really?" This information seemed to surprise Emily and Ali smiled because her confused expression was just too adorable.

"Umm, yeah Em. Why do you think we all pretty much lived at your house whenever your dad was home from tour?" Spencer rhetorically asked.

"I don't know," Emily's cheeks flushed as she reasoned, "I thought you guys wanted to spend time with me…or you just really enjoyed my mom's cooking."

"Well, Pam Fields' food _is_ second to none," Hanna confirmed and they all chuckled at the truth behind the blonde's word, "And of course we loved hanging out with you, but your dad was just so warm and made us all feel loved when our own fathers sucked at showing us that."

"Wow…" Emily breathed out and subconsciously pulled Ali further into her. Brittany noticed the gesture and playfully raised her eyebrows at Alison-knowing how damn giddy the teacher was to be in the swim coach's protective embrace. _Yeah, you know how to make people feel just as loved as your dad did, mermaid._

* * *

"Now, I just want you all to understand that if I come across as emotionally detached or insensitive when I share what I've uncovered with you…I'm not trying to be an asshole, it's just...I used to work for the CIA and well, I was trained to just state the facts and process how I felt later, you know?"

The six of them were sitting in Reggie's "office" (more like super high tech surveillance room extravaganza) in the mansion's basement. Alison, Emily, and Brittany on one couch. Spencer, Hanna, and Aria on another. The teacher didn't know if she should get her hopes up completely, but Reggie certainly exuded confidence when he came to find all of them in the early afternoon (thankfully after they'd all had time to shower and get ready for the day) to announce that he had a working theory on A.D.'s identity and underlying motives.

Reggie paused and made eye contact with all of them as he stressed, "Also, I don't want any of you to beat yourselves up for _not_ uncovering this information. You're all just young women trying to live your lives. You were never meant to…unravel this mind-boggling mystery."

After the muscular male didn't say anything for a good thirty seconds and appeared to have zoned out, Brittany softly inquired, "Reggie, are you okay?"

The ex-CIA operative let out a frustrated groan as he revealed, "I don't know where to start…it's a clusterfuck trying to explain how all the pieces fit together."

Nerves coursed through Alison's body, because _what the fuck had Reggie uncovered?_ Sensing her mounting tension, Emily tenderly grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. Their gazes locked and Ali could just _feel_ Emily telling her that no matter what they found out about A.D., they would get through it because they had each other. Emily mouthed "I love you" moments later and the blonde allowed herself to smile. Knowing that her mermaid loved her….and their child…would keep the teacher grounded (even though they were presumably going to be taken on a roller coaster ride). She mouthed "I love you too" and felt her heart flutter when Emily's soulful brown eyes softened even more.

"Maybe start chronologically? Like from the beginning?" Brittany suggested and all attention was back on Reggie who seemed to be contemplating the idea.

After what felt like hours (even though it was only a few seconds) Reggie determined, "No…No, it's better if I do it in reverse chronological order. Start with the more recent stuff, because that explains _so_ much from the past."

With that he took a deep breath, grabbed his wireless keyboard and sat down in his desk chair. Brittany placed a reassuring hand on her right forearm and Ali offered the professional athlete a look of gratitude. _What would I do without my two brunettes who mean the world to me?_

"Okay…" Reggie began with clear sensitivity seeping into his tone, "As messed up as it is, Alison's…pregnancy-if we can even call it that-actually tells us a lot about A.D. Why would someone forcibly artificially inseminate someone using the eggs of the person that surrogate-for lack of a better term-loves the most in the world?"

"Because there's no way that person would terminate the pregnancy," Spencer answered like it was obvious and Ali could see the gears starting to turn in her head.

Reggie nodded, "Right. But why even perform the procedure in the first place? You wouldn't just do that to torture someone, you'd do it because-"

"Because you can't have children of your own," Spencer finished Reggie's train of thought before she muttered, "Oh God…"

"So, wait A.D. is a woman then?" Aria questioned as Hanna turned to Spencer and softly inquired, "Spence, are you okay?" The brainy brunette looked like she was going to be sick.

A few seconds later, a haunted look took over Spencer's face as she ghosted out, "It's Melissa, isn't it?"

 _Spencer drank the rest of her wine in one gulp as she walked through her childhood home. She really wasn't in the Christmas spirit this year and if she had to listen to her parents and their "guests" for the evening drone on and on about any more pretentious bullshit she was going to lose it. She and Toby had broken up only weeks ago and the political science major doesn't know if she'll ever fully recover from ending things with the young man who wanted so desperately to build a life with her. And even though Spencer loved him with all her heart, she wasn't the type of woman to settle down-at least not yet. There were so many things she wanted to accomplish career-wise before starting a family, and she didn't think Toby would ever understand that. Maybe that made her a selfish bitch, but wouldn't it have been worse if she'd lied about how she truly felt just to make him happy?_

 _Spencer's drug out of her thoughts when she hears someone softly crying in the upstairs hallway bathroom as she walked towards her old bedroom. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she listened at the door for a few moments before lightly knocking when she realized it was Melissa._

" _Melissa, can I come in?"_

 _Her sister choked out a muffled, "Yes," and Spencer moved into the small space._

 _Melissa was sitting against the wall across from the toilet with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked so weak and it unnerved the future politician. Spencer slid down the wall to sit next to her and tentatively asked, "What's wrong?"_

 _After a few moments, her sister took a deep breath and revealed, "I can't have kids."_

" _What do you mean?" Spencer didn't know if it was the alcohol taking effect or what, but she was utterly confused by the information._

" _The doctor's ran some tests after I went in for my yearly physical because an abnormality showed up on my pap smear. Come to find out I have an incredibly lazy ovary, so the chances of me ever getting pregnant are slim to none," Her sister sniffled as she continued to divulge, "And it's ridiculous that I'm this upset about it, because I don't even know if I want kids, but like knowing that that's not even an option anymore…"_

 _Melissa trailed off as her voice became overwhelmed with emotion. Spencer wrapped her arm around the other woman's shoulders and drew her into a side hug as she murmured, "I'm so sorry, Melissa."_

 _Melissa burrowed further into her side as tears raked through her body once again. However many minutes later, after she'd somewhat calmed down, Spencer comfortingly stated, "Just because you can't biologically have children, doesn't mean you can't become a mother. You could always adopt or use an egg donor or something."_

 _Melissa lifted her head from Spencer's shoulder and offered the youngest Hastings a weak smile, "Thank you, Spencer."_

Regret seeped into Reggie's tone, "I'm afraid so Spencer."

No one knew what to say as Spencer sank back into the couch and angry tears rushed down her cheeks. Alison was stunned. She'd always thought the elder Hastings sibling was conniving and mysterious, but she never thought she was their tormentor.

"And after looking through Welby's surveillance footage I can say with certainty that Wren Kingston performed the procedure on Alison."

"Does that mean he's the sperm donor?" Hanna asked as tears pooled in her eyes. Alison was struggling to keep her own tears at bay. She was devastated for all of them, but mainly Spencer, who thought she and Melissa were on the precipice of forging a better relationship as they worked together on Veronica's campaign. _God, this is so fucked up._

"I can't 100% say if he is or isn't the father of Emily and Alison's baby, but I'm pretty sure we can infer that. After all, he is Melissa's fiancé."

"What were Melissa and Wren planning on doing? Kidnapping the baby after Alison gave birth?" Brittany didn't even try to mask her disgust. She'd never met Spencer's sister or her doctor of a fiancé before, but the basketball superstar was kicking both their asses if they were ever within arm's length of her.

Alison moved her hand that wasn't clasped with Emily's over her stomach, trying desperately to protect the child that resided within her as Reggie further theorized, "Yes, I believe so, but they were planning something far more sinister for Alison…"

"Like what?" Emily's voice was laced with protection and if the situation were any different Alison would have found it hot as hell.

"Like frame her for murder. Shit, they've done it before," Reggie replied rather bluntly and Ali took a sharp intake of breath, because fuck she barely survived prison the last time around. The muscular man offered her a genuine smile, "But don't you worry, Ali. You ever get brought in for questioning, I'm representing you," He shifted his attention to Brittany, "Right boss?"

"Duh," The athletic brunette responded like it was obvious and then added, "If any of them get brought in for questioning, you're representing them Reggie."

The ex-CIA operative snorted, "I figured as much. God, that'll be fun. Proving that every single theory Rosewood PD has is wrong…you know it's actually pretty incredible just how incompetent they are…"

His statement got all of them to laugh for a couple seconds, despite the situation they were in.

Never one to forget the task at hand, however, Spencer inquired, "Whose murder would they frame Ali for though? Charlotte's? Archer's?"

"That's where it gets tricky…" Reggie stated rather vaguely as he began typing on his keyboard and pulled up a surveillance video from what looked to be the Lost Woods Resort, "There's no easy way for me to explain this, but…Charlotte's alive."

Six gasps filtered into the room when Reggie started playing the video that was time stamped as being from six weeks ago and a very _alive_ Charlotte appeared on screen with Mona. _Holy fucking shit!_

Ali didn't know whether she was relieved or pissed at the revelation that the woman whom she'd spent time with every day for five years wasn't dead. _But they found her lifeless body outside the church...she was buried in Rosewood Cemetery. Seriously, what the fuck is going on?!_ Ali could feel Brittany tense beside her and the blonde reflexively grabbed onto her hand. They locked gazes and tears formed in Ali's eyes when she saw the ones that were already present in Brittany's.

" _Ali, there's something I really have to tell you. I've been meaning to tell you for a long time, but I just haven't been able to find the words," Brittany looked physically pained as she continued to ramble while she paced through her library where the education major was working on her homework, "But if I don't tell you it's just going to keep eating at me. And I don't want to lie to you, because you don't deserve that."_

" _Britt!" Ali yelled to get the professional athlete's attention. When the tall brunette met her gaze, she lowered her voice substantially, "You can talk to me about anything. You know that."_

 _Brittany took a steadying breath, "Okay…do you remember the girl I was dating in Paris?"_

" _You mean the girl you were head over heels in love with and wanted to someday marry?" Ali countered as a smirk spread across her face. The blonde had never seen her best friend as happy as she was during that six-month span. Of course, she'd only seen Brittany over video chat, but still her joy radiated through the screen. Ali still didn't understand how this mystery woman could just walk out of Brittany' life if she felt anywhere near as profoundly for the basketball superstar as Ali's best friend did towards her._

 _Brittany nodded her head, before a guilty look spread across her face and she revealed, "That was Charlotte."_

Ali had been shocked by her best friend's revelation. It didn't make any sense, because how could the same person who was tormenting Alison and her friends love Brittany so wonderfully? As Brittany shared more and more details about her and Charlotte's time together in Paris, Ali became more and more confused-because this Charlotte sounded like a completely different person to the woman Alison knew. The woman Brittany fell in love with was the best friend Ali used to have in Cece Drake-beautiful, headstrong, funny-but also softer and more affectionate.

Charlotte was certainly a complex enigma, but Ali always held out hope that the "real" Charlotte was the woman Brittany had seen (or maybe brought to light would be a better way to describe it). Her best friend always brought out the best in people, so maybe she had done that with her sister (well, technically cousin) too?

" _Ali, I had no idea that she was…hurting you and your friends like that. You have to believe me, that no matter how I felt about her I would have stopped her or turned her in had I known."_

" _I know that, Britt," Alison honestly replied. She could see how guilty Brittany felt for ever having loved Charlotte, knowing what the older blonde had done now. Hindsight could really be a bitch at times._

" _When did you say she left Paris again?" Alison questioned because the time line of events that Charlotte relayed when she had revealed herself to be -A at Radley Sanitarium just weren't adding up. And Ali knew Brittany wasn't lying about the six-month romantic relationship she'd had with the other blonde._

" _A couple weeks before Christmas."_

 _Okay that would make sense because Charlotte went to the Ice Ball and staged Mona's "murder" around that time. But what about everything that had happened in the time span from when she left the United States following everything that went down in New York and didn't come back until Ali presumes six months later? If she was really -A who blew up Toby's house? Or was Charlotte just a player in the game who had taken the downfall?_

" _You haven't said anything all night,"_ Mona's voice filled the room and she and Brittany simultaneously turned towards the screen.

Ali was about to question how it was possible this surveillance footage had audio when Reggie paused the video and quietly explained after gaging how shocked they all were, "I still have CIA level clearance and access to the government's satellite surveillance system, which records everything visually and audibly. Hence, the video having audio."

"Damn, maybe Caleb's right when he says the government knows everything we do…" Hanna observed with her typical candor, but Ali was glad to see that she and Aria were providing Spencer with amble amounts of comfort. _Thank God we all have each other._

"Your boyfriend's not far off Hanna," Reggie eerily declared before he resumed playing the video that captured all their attentions.

 _Charlotte just looked at Mona with evident pain swirling within her blue irises as the two of them sat on the picnic table closest to the lake outside the Lost Woods Resort._

" _Charlotte…you didn't know what Wren was going to do to Ali," Mona tried to placate her, but the blonde just averted her gaze to the ground._

" _I should have known," Charlotte sniffled before anger seeped into her tone, "For fuck's sake Mona he killed me and brought me back to life because he gets off on performing medical miracles. Impregnating a woman against her will so his fiancé can be a mother is nothing to him," After her slight outburst, Charlotte went back to looking defeated, "God, everything's so fucked up."_

" _I know," Mona agreed as she looked across the lake and let out a heavy sigh, "And she's becoming even more unhinged," Feeling unnerved by the heavy mood the tiny brunette attempted to joke, "If we're not careful, pretty soon she'll start shooting them…"_

" _That's not fucking funny, Mona," Charlotte glared at the other woman, not appreciating her failed attempt at humor whatsoever._

 _Mona threw her hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay I know. I'm sorry…but what exactly do you suggest we do Charlotte? Because in case you forgot neither one of us are technically on the -A team anymore. All we can do is to continue documenting everything and collecting evidence so that when shit hits the fan Alison, Hanna, and the others don't spend the rest of their lives in prison."_

 _A determined flare flashed through Charlotte's eyes as she declared, "That's not good enough. Do you know how groups of oppressed people usually gain their liberation?"_

 _When Mona surprisingly doesn't offer an answer, Charlotte continued, "By using the master's tools against them."_

" _What are you saying? We out -A A.D.? Join the team again just to work as double agents?"_

 _Charlotte smiled at her, "Exactly. Who better to take these motherfuckers down than us, Mona? We already know how to disrupt shit in the game. Hell, we both did that when we were "technically" in charge already."_

 _Mona seemed to be contemplating the idea, "Charlotte…you do realize if we do this when shit hits the fan and the ship sinks…you and I will go down with it."_

 _The blonde nodded her head before she swallowed thickly, "I know, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Besides I already lost the best thing that's ever happened to me. What else do I have to lose?"_

 _A few moments of heavy silence passed between them, before Mona huffed out, "There's no scenario where you and I don't come across as the psychotic tormenting bad guys in the end is there?"_

 _Charlotte shook her head at the other woman, "No. And in order for this game to completely be dismantled we have to play the part really fucking convincingly."_

The video stopped playing and Alison didn't even know how to process what she had just watched. Charlotte's alive and working with Mona to take down A.D.? And is Melissa A.D. or is she just a player in the game too?

"Reggie, is this…legit? Are Charlotte and Mona really working as double agents against A.D.?" Brittany could barely get the questions asked because she was so overcome with emotion. The woman she loved and wanted a future with, who abruptly left her confused and broken hearted in Paris only to confess to being Alison and the other's tormentor, who was tragically murdered not too long ago was alive?! She had long ago accepted that Charlotte had stolen her heart six years ago in Paris and was never giving it back. And even though the professional athlete had tried to move on from her, it was to no avail. And fuck she didn't miss how her heart fluttered as soon as her eyes settled on Charlotte in that surveillance video. _Yeah, you're totally still in love with her._

" _You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," Charlotte quietly revealed as she continued tracing absentminded patterns across Brittany's exposed skin, as always paying particular attention to her defined abdominal muscles._

 _Brittany pulled Charlotte even further into her side laughing gently when the blonde practically melted into her. Kissing the crown of Charlotte's head, she inquired, "Why do you say that?" They'd only been in each other's lives for three months-how could she possibly be the best thing that's ever happened to Charlotte?_

" _Because you see me…the real me," Charlotte spoke in a tone barely above a whisper._

 _After a few more content moments passed, the basketball star earnestly murmured, "Thank you for allowing me to see you." Brittany understood how big of a deal it was for Charlotte to be this vulnerable and exposed. She'd never told any of her past love interests that she was transgender out of fear that they'd be disgusted and reject her, but it didn't matter to Brittany. She loved every part of Charlotte-every complicated facet of her-and the athletic brunette suspected that would never change._

" _I love you, Brittany," Even though she'd heard those three words from the blonde countless times throughout every day, the steely conviction behind them always made the Bronx native's heart soar._

" _I love you too, Char. So much," Charlotte had completely captured her heart from the moment they'd met and Brittany knew the other woman would always hold a piece of her. Even if things didn't work out between them-which the professional athlete prayed wasn't the case-she'd always long for the woman whom she was convinced was her soulmate._

 _When Charlotte lifted her head from Brittany's chest a couple minutes later sporting her trademark smirk, the professional athlete knew she was in for a long night-a long wonderful night._

She tried to blink the memory away as Reggie answered her, "From everything I've been able to gather, yes it looks like the two of them are working very strategically to undermine A.D. and end this game once and for all."

"God, I don't know if I should be pissed at Mona or proud of her…" Hanna voiced the thought they all seemingly had. Because _if_ Charlotte and Mona joined the -A team again that meant they were contributing to the girls' torment. But if they went into it with good intentions, did that make it better? Brittany thought that it did, but then again, her feelings for Charlotte probably made her slightly biased in this regard-she'd always see the best in the blonde-but who knows how the others were feeling about this?

"So, is Melissa the "she" Charlotte and Mona were referring to in the video? Is she A.D.?" Spencer asked to clarify her worse fear. _God, how vicious do you have to be to torment your own sibling and her best friends like that? Thank God Bradley and I have the relationship we do and love each other unconditionally. We'd literally kill for one another…not pull this twisted shit._

"Well, she's partially A.D…" Reggie answered.

The six of them shared perplexed expressions before Brittany questioned, "Partially? Is there someone else in charge of running the game with her?"

Reggie gave her an uneasy look, before he explained, "To answer that question we have to go to Paris…six years ago." _What happened in Paris six years ago?_

As Reggie pulled up a surveillance video from the café near her Penthouse in Paris-that she and Charlotte frequented together-Brittany felt her heart clench. _Oh Jesus fucking Christ no…_

" _Please, you promised that I could start over if I took care of Wilden and cut ties with Alison. That I could be done with the game," Charlotte begged the woman sitting across from her. She couldn't believe this was happening. She was finally fucking happy and building a life with the woman of her dreams. Why did Jessica DiLaurentis have to show up in her life once again-with darker hair color on top of everything else?_

 _Her aunt took a sip of her tea before she stated in that sickeningly sweet tone of hers, "You should know by now Charlotte that people like you don't get happy endings. And I'm not about to let some basketball player ruin what I've spent years building."_

" _But Brittany hasn't done anything to you," Tears welled in Charlotte's eyes and she tried desperately not to let them roll down her cheeks. She didn't want to give Jessica the satisfaction._

" _Hasn't she? You've pulled away from me since being with her. And when the others turn against Alison, Brittany will be the only best friend she has left…She'll put Ali back together again and I can't have that."_

 _That's when it hit Charlotte, "You're intimidated by her. You know that you can't control Brittany…and that terrifies you."_

 _Jessica fixed her with a deadly stare for a solid thirty seconds before she seethed, "Fine, you want me to admit it? Your girlfriend's brilliant and with the new head of her security she's hired…she'd put all the pieces together and destroy our family."_

" _Family?!" Charlotte couldn't believe this bitch, "You killed my mother! Or did you forget that small detail?" Charlotte had been searching for her biological mother her entire life and when she'd finally found her, Jessica had murdered Mary Drake (who mind you was the woman's twin sister) before she'd even had a chance to get to know her. She glared right back at the woman was trying to destroy her's, Alison's, and the other girl's lives back in Rosewood, "What makes you think I'd ever help you again?"_

 _A devious smirk spread across Jessica's face as she replied, "Because you know what I'm capable of. I didn't hesitate to kill my own sister. Poor Mary, she was much too kind for this vicious world," Her aunt added as an aside like she was making a comment about the temperature of her tea, before she threateningly declared, "Do you really think I'd bat an eye at killing that little girlfriend of yours?"_

 _Suddenly, Charlotte couldn't breathe. No, no she can't take Brittany from me. Oh my God I'll die. What would even be the purpose of living anymore?_

" _The choice is yours Charlotte. Live in a world where Brittany hates you for breaking her heart or live in a world where she ceases to exist."_

 _The blonde couldn't keep her tears suppressed as the reality of the situation hit her. She was going to have to destroy the love of her life in order to keep her alive. Fuck._

Brittany felt the onslaught of a panic attack setting in as she leaned forward on the couch and put her head between her legs trying to keep her breathing in check. _Oh my God Charlotte never stopped loving me. She didn't want to leave Paris. She didn't want to leave me. She left to keep me safe from Jessica DiLaurentis who was masquerading as Mary Drake, the twin sister she'd ruthlessly murdered. Oh my God…_

"We're going to stop her, Britt," Alison earnestly declared as she rubbed soothing circles up and down her back, "I know she's my mother, but I'm totally kicking her ass if I get the chance." The professional athlete turned her head so that she could look in Ali's determined blue eyes. Not having the strength to verbally agree with her best friend who amazed her more and more every day, Brittany let a weak smile spread across her face.

"Don't worry boss, I've already got a plan in motion," Reggie informed all of them in a fiery tone that had them believing they might just be able to stop Jessica, Melissa, Wren, and whoever else from wrecking any more havoc, "We're stopping this game once and for all."

* * *

 **Dun! Dun! Dun! So what do we think?!**

 **We have Jessica masquerading as Mary-making everyone's life a living hell (and being shady as fuck). Charlotte's alive and working with Mona to take down A.D. (can y'all imagine how epic this would be if it actually played out on screen?) I really do think Charlotte is alive on the actual show, but unlike PLL I've always viewed her in a more positive light. She's a complex enigma certainly, but I've always felt that there was more good to her than bad. And my God can I just tell y'all that Charlotte and Brittany will never stop giving me the feels! I don't know if you guys have picked up on how I try and parallel their relationship to Emison-with Ali and Charlotte struggling so mightily to love themselves and Emily and Brittany seeing the best in the both of them no matter what.**

 **Melissa's partially A.D. (her character has always really intrigued me, because she's simultaneously evil as hell yet really human if that makes sense). Even though she plotted this horrific forced pregnancy on Alison using Emily's eggs in this story, I tried to humanize _why_ she would do that in the flashback of her and Spencer. Of course, it's still fucked up and twisted, but in Melissa's head this was her opportunity to become a mother. **

**Also, Emily and Alison deciding to become moms and raise their baby at the beginning of this chapter was really sweet. I'm honestly really curious how PLL's going to have them come to this decision on the show. And Emison just being complete fluffballs with each other-be still my heart. And that flashback of Alison and Brittany where Ali first vocalized she was in love with Emily and grappling with her sexuality-good stuff.**

 **Reggie says he already has a plan in motion to end the game. I wonder what that entails?**

 **Until next time my friends, fingers crossed for 7x15, and thank you as always for your continued support! You all are the best!**


	3. Chapter 3: Game Over

**Hello beautiful people! My apologies for this update taking way longer than I anticipated! I'm an assistant director at this summer camp for middle school age kids and my schedule got crazy busy before camp started and has been jam packed obviously since our sessions began. It's a lot of fun, but a lot of work as well-like every time I think I'll have a chance to write someone's parent calls me lol. The cool thing though is that my brother is a counselor at the same camp so we get to work together while he's home from college for the summer which has been a ton of fun so far. Also, the kids love that we're siblings-I haven't quite figured out what the fascination is with that yet-but as long as they find it amusing I guess it's all good.**

 **How crazy is it that Tuesday is the series finale of PLL?! I don't think it's hit me yet. Thank goodness are ladies are FINALLY together and in love and just so damn happy. I have to admit I was really worried about how the writers were going to put Emison together after the whole forced pregnancy story line, but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. 7x16 was probably my favorite Emison episode ever because they were acting like such a married couple the entire episode-fighting about vitamins and giving each other stubborn side eyes at school later that night was just too funny! Also, that was the episode where Ali finally said "I love you" to Emily and everything about that scene just made my heart flutter. ((Of course, I'm still waiting for Emily to tell Alison she loves her on screen cough cough)) Also, I love how the others found out about the two of them being together-like Emily just slipped up with that whole A.D. watching Ali and I sleep line-and then Ali's smirk throughout the rest of the scene was just gold. And Hanna saying, "Hmm...about time" was my favorite thing ever! Like she's been driving me nuts this season, but that one little line had me loving her all over again. It's going to be so weird seeing Emison as moms in the finale, but I'm excited for it (and crossing my fingers that we get a proposal too)!**

 **With regard to who A.D. is-I'm really pulling for Melissa, but I've read some compelling theories about Spencer possibly having a twin which would be mind blowing (I mean there have been some scenes this season where Spencer has just seemed off-I'm thinking mainly of that one in the airport with Wren and then when she went to "visit" Toby at his cabin, so I could see her having a twin lol). I really hope it's not somebody dumb though...which I guess I'll know how I feel about it on Tuesday (and then I'll rant about it in an author's note lol). Also, this is kind of random, but was anyone else really disappointed with that whole "Dark Aria" story line? Like I thought that could have been so much more interesting if it wasn't focused on Ezra, but then again everything Aria does centers on Ezra (sigh).**

 **Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I am working on the next chapters of Guardian Angel and Sinus Infection. I know it probably seems like I'm abandoning those stories, but I promise that I'm not! Thank you to everyone who has left reviews asking me to update those stories-I can't say exactly when that will happen, but just know that it will. And hey this way I can continue to write Emison even after PLL ends and you can continue to read Emison too. So, win/win, right?**

 **Given what we found out in 7x19 one of the friendships I develop in this chapter will seem really odd, but please understand that I came up with the idea for this story after 7x14 (and hell, I love my take on Charlotte's character so much more than canon PLL anyway).**

 **As always, thank you for reading! Please let me know what you guys think!**

* * *

You're Not My Second Choice  
Chapter Three: Game Over

"Charlotte, how do you know we can trust this guy?" Mona asked as the blonde finished packaging all the physical and computer evidence they had on Jessica, Melissa, Wren, and everyone else (including themselves) that was involved in the A.D. game into a large shipping box.

"I just do, okay?" The blonde knew her explanation wasn't going to be enough for Mona and sure enough not even three seconds later the brunette shot back at her,

"You're going to have to do better than that," Mona crossed her arms over her chest as she elaborated, "Because I did _not_ spend the last however many months collecting all of this just for the police to screw it up."

Charlotte wrote in thick black letters across the top of the box:

 _ATTN: Lieutenant Brian Williams  
_ _NYPD Special Crimes Unit  
_ _Manhattan, New York City_

When she finished, a small smile spread across her face because she could just _feel_ how close they were to ending this game once and for all.

"Well lucky for us Mona, everyone in Lieutenant Williams' unit is competent and knows how to do their jobs. Plus…he's a friend of a friend."

* * *

 _Charlotte's heart was completely shattered. She knew she was never going to be the same again. She had just destroyed the woman she loved more than anything in the world-the purest soul she had ever met-to keep her safe from her psychotic aunt Jessica. Brittany's heartbroken voice, pleading for her to stay, and repeatedly declaring how much she loved her, was going to haunt Charlotte every time she closed her eyes (and every waking moment for the rest of her life)._

 _The blonde let out a shaky breath as she tried desperately to keep her tears at bay as she crossed the street on her way to the airport in Paris. She honestly has no idea how she's even able to function at the moment-_

" _What the hell do you think you're doing?"_

 _Charlotte stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around. Oh shit._

" _Reggie…" She began but was cut off by the former CIA operative._

" _Three weeks ago you told me you wanted to marry Brittany and now you're leaving?" Tears welled up in Charlotte's eyes and she had to avert her gaze because Reggie's penetrating stare was just too much, "I know how much you love her, Charlotte. So why are you doing this?" When Charlotte doesn't say anything, because she literally can't, Reggie continued his earnest plea in his simultaneously forceful yet gentle tone, "I've never been one to believe in fairytales or happy endings, but…My God, Charlotte you two are soulmates. Can't you see that?"_

 _Reggie placed a comforting hand on her tense forearm and Charlotte finally looked into his searching eyes. Moments later, a look of realization spread across the muscular man's face._

" _You don't want to leave," Tears streaked down the blonde's cheeks, because leaving Brittany was the last thing she ever wanted to do, "Someone's making you."_

 _Taking her continued silence as confirmation, Reggie declared with steely conviction, "Charlotte, whatever this person has on you…I can help you. You don't have to do this."_

 _Forcing herself to finally speak, Charlotte painfully stated, "The only way you can help me is by keeping Brittany safe," The blonde's voice cracked as she desperately pleaded, "Please Reggie, just…just promise me that you'll keep her safe…no matter what."_

 _A heavy silence filled the space between them as it became evident to Reggie that maybe he couldn't help Charlotte after all…Whoever was making her leave had obviously threatened Brittany's life. And Charlotte loved his boss too much to ever live in a world where she ceased to exist, even if that meant sacrificing her own happiness to keep Brittany safe. God…_

 _Feeling uncharacteristically overcome with emotion, Reggie softly promised the woman whom he had grown so fond of ever since he started working for the global basketball superstar a few weeks ago, "I will," He made sure Charlotte was looking at him when he finished, "I promise."_

 _When Charlotte nodded and offered him a weak "thank you" in response, Reggie felt compelled to inquire, "What about you? Who's going to keep you safe?"_

 _When Charlotte again doesn't say anything, Reggie fished out a business card from his back pocket and handed it to her, explaining, "Back in the States, if you ever want to take down whoever's making you do this…if it's ever safe enough for you to do that…My friend Brian can help. I know you don't trust the police-rightfully so-but I promise he's one of the good guys."_

* * *

When Mona continued to offer her a skeptical look, Charlotte sighed as she ran her hand through her hair and stressed to the annoyingly stubborn brunette, "We _finally_ have enough evidence to end this game once and for all. And we have to move quickly because any minute now Jessica's going to lose her shit-"

"Wait, why is Jessica losing her shit?" Mona cut her off and the blonde had to look away from the smaller woman.

Hesitantly, Charlotte muttered a few seconds later, "Because I killed her board game."

"You what?!" Mona screeched at her and the blonde almost covered her ears at the unpleasant sound, "Charlotte, are you crazy?! Jessica's going to know it was one of us who killed the board game considering we built the damn thing! Oh God…she's going to figure out we're double crossing her."

Charlotte had to look down as the reality of the situation washed over her. Feebly she admitted, "I know. I just…I just didn't want Ali and the others to continue to suffer because of that board game. They've all been through enough…"

The blonde was expecting Mona to rightfully be furious with her. After all, she'd thrown the other woman under the bus by destroying their creation and placed her directly in Jessica's cross airs. She was mightily surprised when the brunette let out a gentle laugh and mused, "Charlotte Drake you are such a fucking softy sometimes."

Glancing back up, she noticed the small smirk Mona was sporting, "Even after all these years, Brittany's still rubbing off on you."

Charlotte lightly crossed her arms over her chest (trying to protect herself from Mona's teasing) before she mumbled, "Shut up."

She couldn't contain the soft small that spread across her face at the mention of the woman who meant everything to her however, and Mona knowingly hummed in response.

"If we both weren't so good at evading death I'd be pissed at you for prematurely turning Jessica's sights away from Hanna and the others and onto us, but…I'm really fucking tired of double agenting this game."

Charlotte briefly chuckled, before Mona fixed her with a slightly intimidating glare and inquired, "So, what's the plan?"

The blonde waited a few moments before she replied with a determined flare, "We're going to New York."

* * *

"What does this plan entail?" Emily quietly asked Reggie as she continued rubbing soothing circles along the back of Alison's hand. She couldn't even imagine what the beautiful blonde must be feeling right now. The woman they all thought was Mary Drake was actually Jessica DiLaurentis. Ali's _own_ mother was the one who was torturing them. It was just so…sick.

Emily briefly wondered if Mrs. D was bipolar or had multiple personality disorder, because in all of her interactions with the woman she had never felt anything other than welcoming warmth radiating off of her. And the swim coach knew that Ali had shared some tender moments with her as well. But to see Jessica take such sheer joy in threatening to kill Brittany, who Charlotte _obviously_ loved with her entire being, was just…horrifying.

She may have only known Brittany personally for less than a day, but the tanned brunette could tell just how good of a person she really was. And seeing her interact with Ali this morning was one of the sweetest things Emily had ever witnessed. Brittany was the kind of person Alison _deserved_ to have in her life, and God from all appearances Jessica wouldn't have batted an eye in ending her life. _Jesus, this is all so fucked up._

"Well, we know that A.D. hates when any of you leave Rosewood…so, I suspect _someone_ on the team will be contacting you soon, Aria. Trying to blackmail information out of you again."

 _Wait, what?_

A guilty look spread across Aria's face as six pairs of eyes settled on her and a thick silence enveloped the room.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aria tried to argue, but failed miserably as she stood up suddenly from the couch.

A perplexed look crossed Reggie's face after he'd gauged the others' reactions and he looked up at Aria, "Wait…did you not tell your friends-"

But the former CIA operative was cut off by Spencer who asked in a pained accusatory tone, "Have you been working for A.D.?"

Out of the five of them, Emily knew how close Spencer and Aria were-they were practically sisters-and for the publicist to not go to Spencer with this (even if she was twistedly trying to protect all of them by being A.D.'s helper) was just incredibly out of character.

Aria's silence was all the confirmation the brainy brunette needed and a few moments later she hallowed out, "What does A.D. have on you?"

"Spence…please," Aria weakly mumbled out as she turned to face Spencer-desperately pleading with her to stop pushing for answers.

The always inquisitive brunette however was not deterred as she borderline yelled at the smaller woman while she rose from the couch, "No! I want to know what could possibly be so damning that you decided to throw us all under the bus to keep it hidden!" Tears formed in both women's eyes as Spencer continued her rant, "What could Melissa and Jessica and whoever the fuck else have on you that could make you _hurt_ the rest of us like this?!"

A tear streaked down Aria's flushed cheek as she brokenly inquired, "You can't honestly think that I'd ever do anything to _actually_ hurt you," Spencer averted her gaze and Aria croaked out as she a took a step towards the taller woman, "God, all of you are my family. I love you guys so much."

Emily knew that Aria was telling the truth about loving them, she just had no idea why her compassionate best friend would work (in any capacity) with the people who were tormenting them.

"It's Ezra, isn't it?" Ali's soft voice startled the athletic brunette. Her girlfriend (wait, she could call Ali that, right? They were officially an 'us' now, so…Yeah Emily's calling her that.) had seemed pretty spaced out for the past few minutes, "A.D. has something on him or they have something on you that could threaten your relationship with him."

Aria sniffled hard as her hazel eyes locked with Ali's and for the millionth time since she had met Alison, Emily was amazed at just how well she could read people, "I thought I could keep him safe…keep us safe…and maybe figure out what A.D. was after if I played along," Aria painfully revealed before she looked down and confessed, "I hated keeping it from all of you."

"You could've come to us, Aria. We would've understood," Aria raised a skeptical eyebrow at Emily, so the swim coach explained further, "We've all done things in the past that we're not proud of because of this game."

Emily couldn't help but glance towards Alison and give her hand a gentle squeeze as the words came out of her mouth. They had all foolishly believed she was -A at one time and gotten her thrown in jail for Mona's "murder" (not to mention destroying the evidence that would have proven her innocence). The brunette will never understand how Ali was able to forgive all of them so quickly (and save them from the dollhouse right after she'd gotten released from prison). The beautiful blonde was truly the strongest person Emily knew. _And she's going to be the mother of my child-how did I get so lucky?_

"Besides whatever A.D. has on you they're going to give it to the police or Ezra or whoever whether you work with them or not, Aria," Brittany bluntly stated and she didn't mean to sound harsh, but how could Aria honestly believe that she could outsmart a psychopath as brilliant as Jessica DiLaurentis?

"Britt…" Emily noted how soft Alison's voice was-obviously trying to calm the other woman whose mind looked to be racing a million miles a minute. If anyone could empathize with what Brittany was experiencing right now only moments after finding out her long-lost love was still alive-it was Emily. The wide range of emotions that rattled throughout your entire being-the confusion, the anger, the relief, the joy, and of course the startling realization that you were _still_ just as profoundly in love with that person (and that you would _never_ stop being in love with them). It was a lot to take in, a lot to process, but Emily was glad to see Brittany's blue eyes soften when she looked at Ali. Because the swim coach knew if the professional athlete used a tone that rude with the teacher she was going to spring into full on protective Emily Fields mode.

"I'm just saying A.D. doesn't exactly play by any rules, Ali. You can't trust any promises they _supposedly_ make."

"She's right. You don't show someone your cards, unless you plan to deal them. A.D. was _always_ going to make your life a living hell, Aria," Reggie stated, shifting everyone's attention back to him. The former CIA operative shook his head before he turned back around to face all of them and stressed in a gentle tone, "We have the upper hand though. Everyone working for A.D. doesn't know that you all know _who_ they are. We can use that."

"How exactly?" Hanna quietly asked and Emily momentarily forgot the usually loud blonde was even in the room with them.

A small smile spread across Reggie's face, "By beating A.D. at their own game. The next time they get in contact with you, Aria, we'll pinpoint their exact location. Instead of the five of you being the hunted, you'll become the hunters," The muscular male passionately stated, before he slightly amended his declaration, "Well, you all won't be the ones doing the hunting. That'll be some old friends of mine," He glanced towards Spencer before half-joking, "After all, we don't need anyone else getting shot."

"Yeah, if we could avoid any trips to the hospital that'd be fantastic," The brainy brunette joked right back and they all shared a gentle laugh. _God, how sick is it that this game has made our humor this dark?_

"But, wait…don't you think it's odd that A.D. hasn't gotten in contact with _any_ of them yet," Brittany pointed out after everyone's laughter had died down.

Reggie quirked a curious eyebrow in the professional athlete's direction, "What do you mean?"

"Well, isn't the norm for them to constantly harass you guys? Why would they suddenly go radio silent? I mean from the sound of things the last person to even _hear_ anything from Jessica or Melissa or whoever was Ali yesterday afternoon at school," Emily could see the gears shifting in Brittany's head as she turned towards Ali and observed, "And you didn't go home at all. You came straight here…"

Emily could hear the realization in her girlfriend's voice as she quietly breathed out a few moments later, "The board game…I didn't even think about that," Alison let out a frustrated huff as she switched her attention back to Reggie, "Do you think it could explain why A.D.'s focus seems to have…shifted somewhat?"

"That's certainly a possibility…" Reggie mumbled as he began furiously typing on his wireless keyboard, "And my apologies in advance Ali, because I'm about to creep on your house through A.D.'s camera…"

A live shot of the teacher's living/dining room area adorned the huge monitor in Reggie's office and Emily squinted her eyes as the board game that had made all of their lives a living hell these past few weeks was brought into focus.

The swim coach let out a surprised gasp when she noted the words written in red spray paint across the board game's map of Rosewood: GAME OVER.

In the center of the board game's map laid broken pieces of what appeared to be a small mechanical generator. _Wait, that could only mean-_

"Oh my God. Someone killed the board game," Spencer blurted-finishing Emily's thought process, "But why would they do that? Why now?"

 _Who the fuck knows, Spence…_

* * *

"Okay, everything is all set…" Mona finished typing on her tablet as she glanced up at Charlotte. The two of them were standing on the roof of an abandoned ammunition plant in The Bronx (which Mona still didn't understand _why_ Charlotte had decided this was a great place for them to hide out from Jessica, but whatever), "All the girls' cell phone GPS signals indicate that they're in Philadelphia instead of New York," Mona wasn't expecting a grand gesture of acknowledgement for the difficult task she had just completed, but damn some reaction would have been nice...

Charlotte appeared to be completely zoned out as she looked across the Harlem River at the Manhattan cityscape, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

The blonde's voice came out in a whisper and Mona's eyebrows furrowed as she walked towards her double agent in justice (well she liked to think of the two of them as such anyway) and let her eyes absorb the view that was offered from the rooftop for the first time.

After a minute of silence passed between them, the brunette quietly confirmed, "Yes, it is."

Charlotte let out a pained laugh before she quietly explained, "When Brittany was growing up her uncle Eddie lived really close to here and on the nights when he'd watch her and Bradley when Teresa was working a night shift at the hospital, he'd bring them up to this roof with a telescope and they'd look at the stars," The taller woman wiped the lone tear that had cascaded down her cheek away as she revealed, "Brittany always wanted me to see this view…and I just wanted to before…" Charlotte's voice became laced with emotion as she finished, "Before it's too late."

Mona felt her heart clench in her chest at the blonde's words, "You're talking like," She began, but had to pause when the realization crashed into her like a freight train, "Like you're never going to see the light of day again."

Charlotte offered her a weak smile as tears pooled in her sad blue eyes, "I'm already dead, Mona. Remember?"

Mona took in a shaky breath because she knew where Charlotte was going with this and she refused to resign her friend to such a horrific fate, "I'm not leaving you here by yourself to fight off Jessica and everyone else, Charlotte."

"You have to," Charlotte earnestly declared and Mona had to look away as tears formed in her eyes as the reality of the situation hit her, "One of us needs to survive to help the police put all the pieces together and make sure the _right_ people pay for the crimes that have been committed…And you still have a life, Mona. When this is all over, you'll still have a career to embark on," A smirk spread across Charlotte's face, "And maybe you'll actually allow yourself to be happy with Mike and accept the fact that he loves you no matter what."

The smaller woman had to look down as her cheeks flushed red, because goddamn if Mike Montgomery wasn't her motherfucking weakness…

"It's not fair…" Mona painfully observed a few moments later. Why did Charlotte have to die for her to live?

"Life rarely is, but this way the game will be over once and for all. The girls will be free. _You'll_ be free."

After Mona had somewhat gotten her emotions under control she took a deep breath and looked back up at the woman, who was so incredibly misunderstood, and asked, "How long do you want me to wait before calling Lieutenant Williams?"

Mona could see Charlotte doing the math in her head-trying to calculate how long it would be until Jessica and the others would inevitably find her, "Like 45 minutes."

The brunette nodded her head in understanding, before Charlotte stressed, "And just make sure he brings _a lot_ of officers with him. I don't want anyone from the A.D. team getting away."

 _Shit, no one can afford for them to get away…_

Mona could only imagine how unhinged Jessica and Melissa were right now knowing that she and Charlotte had betrayed them-bested them at their own game and worked to undermine everything they'd done. The two were out for carnage and if the police couldn't stop them after they did whatever they were planning on doing to Charlotte; she, Hanna, and the others would be next.

A heavy silence settled around them. Mona wanted to say something reassuring, but was at a loss for words. She had never been the best at showing affection and well, Charlotte was kind of the same way…

"Thank you, Mona," The sincerity in Charlotte's voice left the shorter woman floored as she expanded, "For everything. You made this whole double agent thing a whole hell of a lot more doable. And you ended up being the friend I never knew I needed."

Mona sniffled hard and wiped the tears that were collecting in her eyes before she moved forward and enveloped the taller woman in a genuine, loving embrace. Who could have ever guessed that the same person who beat the shit out of her to stage her fake murder all those years ago would turn out to be her trusted ally and friend now? She let out a soft chuckle and murmured, "I feel the same way, even though you're making me cry right now…"

Charlotte mirrored her sad laugh and held onto her even tighter…almost like she knew as soon as their hug ended, shit was going to go down.

Mona pulled back slightly from their embrace a few seconds later and made sure Charlotte held her gaze as she honestly proclaimed, "You're an amazing human being, Charlotte Drake. I hope you know that," As the blonde absorbed her truthful declaration, Mona promised with steely conviction, "No matter what happens, I'll make sure Alison and the others know the truth about you. That they know how much you sacrificed to save them."

"You don't have to do that," Charlotte began to protest and Mona cut her off, "Yes, I do."

With that she stepped completely out of their hug, because she knew if she looked into Charlotte's piercing blue eyes any longer her resolve was going to crumble and she wouldn't honor her friend's wishes of getting the hell off this roof before Jessica and everyone else got there. And as much as Mona hated it she knew Charlotte was right-one of them needed to survive this and make sure the police didn't fuck up all of the evidence the two of them had collected over the past few months.

After she gathered all of her things, Mona hoisted her bag onto her right shoulder and threw out at the other woman, "Oh, and I'm telling Brittany how much you love her bitch, because she deserves to know."

Charlotte didn't say anything in response, but Mona could see a beautiful smile form on her friend's face.

As she walked towards the stairs that would take her down and away from the abandoned ammunition plant, Mona mused that if that was the last image she ever got of the other woman, she'd be okay with it. But Mona hoped beyond all hope that it wasn't…that Charlotte would somehow survive and they'd _both_ be able to live the lives they rightfully deserved with the people they loved.

 _God, is there anything I can do to make that happen?_

Mona sat in her car, trying to come up with a plan.

 _I could call Lieutenant Williams sooner and have him and his unit be here before Jessica arrives. But shit, she'd figure out it was a set-up from a mile away and despite how furious she is with Charlotte, she'd never knowingly expose herself to the authorities…Wait, what if I? Yeah…yeah that might just work._

Mona hurriedly dialed Hanna's number as she threw her car into drive and sped towards the New York City Special Crimes Unit.

* * *

Charlotte glanced down at her watch, closed her eyes, and let out a deep sigh. Any minute now she knew that her aunt Jessica and the other members of the A.D. team were going to find her…and that she was more than likely going to die. And even though she hadn't exactly been living much of a life since Wren "resurrected" her a few months prior, it still pained her that this was how her story was going to end.

Jessica had told her six years ago in Paris that people like her don't get their happy endings, but at least with all of the evidence she and Mona had collected in the hands of Reggie's friend Brian, justice could be served and Alison and the others could _finally_ be free. At this point that was all Charlotte wanted. She had long ago accepted that _her_ dreams weren't going to come true.

As she looked out at the majestic view the rooftop provided, Charlotte tried to focus on the moments in her life when she'd felt truly happy-the six months she'd spent in Paris with Brittany, the times when she and Ali had bonded and grown closer, and the friendship she'd forged with Mona over the past few months. Charlotte felt fortunate because some people _never_ got the change to be in a relationship with the loves of their lives as their true authentic selves or experience genuine friendship. _I love them all so much. I hope they know that._

"After everything I've done for you Charlotte, this is how you repay me?" Jessica's booming voice snapped the blonde out of her thoughts and she turned around to face the woman who had wreaked _so_ much havoc in _so_ many people's lives. She isn't surprised to see Melissa, Wren, Jenna, and Sydney there as well. And Charlotte doesn't miss the fact that _all_ of them are wielding guns (even Jenna's blind ass).

"By destroying everything I worked so hard for?" Charlotte could see rage swirling in Jessica's cold blue irises as she moved towards her, but unlike her younger self would've done Charlotte doesn't flinch or show any signs of intimidation, "By destroying _our_ family?"

Charlotte resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Because despite all of Jessica's talk about family and loyalty, she had no comprehension of what being a part of one entailed. She was a master manipulator and pathological liar and had never understood that what made a family _real_ wasn't bloodlines or picture-perfect images. Unconditional love, genuine support, caring about someone else more than you do yourself-that's what made a family a family. What Alison, Emily, Spencer, Hanna, and Aria had-that was a family. What she and Jessica had was…sick.

Charlotte challengingly held her aunt's gaze as she shook her head and truthfully declared, "You did that all on your own."

Jessica ever so slightly flinched backwards, almost like Charlotte's words had punched her right in the stomach, "And on top of making the people's lives who you supposedly love a living hell, you also lost your precious game."

"What are you talking about?"

A ghost of a smirk crept onto Charlotte's face as she revealed, "The police know _everything_ ," Fear spread across Jenna and Sydney's faces as the double agents' words sank in. As red and blue lights began bouncing off the brick walls on the rooftop, Charlotte smiled-Brian and his officers were right on time, "You're going down aunt Jessica…for good."

In her peripheral vision, Charlotte could see Melissa, Wren, Jenna, and Sydney all scamper towards the rooftop's exit. Jessica just offered her a menacing stare as the reality of the situation became clear. There was no dramatic escape she could make this time-the game was over.

"Well, if I'm going down, dear. I'm taking you straight to hell with me," Charlotte knew what was going to happen before the other woman even opened her mouth. As her aunt raised the gun and pulled the trigger, Charlotte closed her eyes and reflexively turned her body.

Time seemed to slow down as she waited for the impact of the bullet to tear through her skin and leave behind deathly damage. But instead of feeling a searing pain course through her body milliseconds later, Charlotte felt two strong arms wrap around her and gently lower her to the rooftop's cement ground.

* * *

Emily hasn't felt this much adrenaline course through her veins since, ironically, prom night senior year when she, Alison, Spencer, Hanna, and Aria sprinted after Charlotte onto Radley Sanitarium's rooftop-trying to prevent her from jumping to her death. Now, here the five of them were almost six years later, with the additions of Brittany and Reggie, trying to prevent another tragedy involving the blonde from ensuing.

Not surprisingly, Brittany was a good twenty steps ahead of her and Ali as the three of them made their way up the stairs located in the back of the ammunition plant. Spencer, Hanna, and Aria had gone with Reggie up the main set of stairs near the front of the building. The swim coach felt better about the three of them being with the former CIA agent given that none of them knew how to properly handle a gun…Reggie would keep all of them safe (and hopefully stop some members of the A.D. team in the process…)

As Brittany flew through the door at the top of the stairs, Emily's grip on the 9 mm gun she was holding tightened. She really didn't want to kill Jessica DiLaurentis (especially in front of Alison), but Emily wouldn't hesitate to do whatever was necessary to keep her family safe.

"Well, if I'm going down, dear. I'm taking you straight to hell with me," There was a deathly threatening undertone to Jessica's words and Emily felt panic spread throughout her body. She knew what was going to happen before it even played out…because it was something she would do for Alison without hesitation. It wouldn't matter if she hadn't seen Ali in six years; she'd _always_ sacrifice her well-being to ensure her love's safe keeping…

Right when Jessica pulled the trigger Brittany jumped in front of Charlotte-completely shielding her from harm's way-and brought the other woman gently to the ground.

Emily doesn't have time to access whether Brittany's been hit or not, because as soon as Jessica noted the professional athlete's body protectively encased around Charlotte's, a sadistic smirk spread across her face and she raised the gun once more.

Before the older woman's finger can even flex, Emily shot the gun out of her hand. She was aiming to disarm their tormentor and appeared to be successful as Jessica let out a yelp of pain and brought her wounded hand to her chest.

Emily blinked and suddenly she was standing in front of Jessica, pointing the 9 mm gun directly between her ice cold blue eyes. The swim coach doesn't know what's going on with her body, but she feels like she's going in and out of consciousness as she threateningly stares the other woman down…The person who had made her best friend's lives a living hell and caused the woman she loves more than anything on the planet unimaginable pain.

It was tempting to pull the trigger, but Emily knew she couldn't kill the eldest DiLaurentis woman. The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She thought about Alison and their baby…about how much she loved them. About how much she wanted to be there for every milestone their child ever achieved. She wouldn't be able to do that if she pulled the trigger…hell, she'd be in prison when Ali gave birth…

Emily opened her eyes and lowered the gun. She wasn't going to stoop to Jessica's level. She had too much to lose.

A look of pride flashed through the older woman's eyes as she truthfully stated, "You know I meant it when I said I couldn't have asked for a better person to love Alison than you, Emily," Genuine tears streaked down Mrs. D's face and the sight unnerved Emily because she couldn't understand how someone could _both_ love and torment their children-it was just _so_ fucked up. She vowed right then and there to _only_ shower her and Ali's child with unconditional love.

"Take care of her, Emily. Take care of my grandchild," The brunette's eyebrows furrowed as she stepped back and processed the other woman's words. Jessica was practically pleading with her and the swim coach doesn't know why she felt like she had to reassure the other woman, but she finds herself whispering, "I will. I promise," as a swarm of police officer's burst through the door.

As Jessica's being hand cuffed, Emily's finally able to tear her gaze from her girlfriend's mother and access how everyone else on the rooftop is doing.

But when her hazelnut eyes located Ali, Charlotte, and Brittany; tears immediately welled in them.

Her beautiful girlfriend's hands were covered in blood as they desperately tried to stop the bleeding from the gunshot wound to Brittany's shoulder. Charlotte was holding the basketball superstar's hand and reverently caressing her face as she talked to Brittany-trying to keep her conscious. Emily heard murmurings of "stay with me, baby" and "I love you so much" coming from Charlotte and she damn near lost it, because _fuck_ they had literally just gone through this with Spencer…

Emily wiped her eyes as she moved over to the trio and knelt next to Ali. Tremors were coursing through the blonde's body and the swim coach placed her hands over Ali's, so she could help apply pressure to Brittany's wound and get her girlfriend to breathe. Her medical knowledge is pretty lack luster, but Emily figured two pair of hands applying pressure to a bleeding wound is better than one. Or at least she hopes it is, because _fuck_ if Brittany doesn't make it… _No, don't think like that Emily! She's going to live…She has to…_

Ali doesn't even glance at her-being too focused on her best friend fighting for her life, but Emily can _feel_ that the teacher appreciates her being there. She doesn't know how much time passed during her stare down with Jessica, but Emily's praying to every higher power in existence that emergency medical personnel get to them soon…

"I…lo…love you…Char," Emily could see how mightily Brittany struggled to get the words out as she fought to remain conscious and the swim coach had to lean her head against Alison's shoulder to stop herself from completely breaking down.

"I love you too, Britt…so fucking much. And I _promise_ I'm going to make it up to you. This _isn't_ how our story's going to end, baby," Emily doesn't know how Charlotte's able to keep her composure and reassure the love of her life, because _fuck_ if Emily was in the older blonde's shoes and Alison was lying on the ground bleeding from a gunshot wound under her, she doesn't think she'd be able to formulate any kind of cohesive thought. Yet here Charlotte was able to draw a love drunk smile from Brittany as she earnestly declared, "You're going to _live_ and we're going to grow old together."

* * *

Charlotte had never been a fan of hospitals. To the blonde they felt like prisons. This feeling more than likely stemmed from all the time she'd spent in Radley Sanitarium while she was growing up (not to mention the five years she'd spent at Welby). But as the minutes slowly passed by while Brittany was in surgery, Charlotte realized that she'd much rather be a patient in a hospital than a loved one sitting around agonizingly waiting to hear news _on_ a patient. Because this was fucking torture.

Charlotte glanced up from the floor of the waiting room and noted that Alison looked like she'd _finally_ fallen asleep in the chair across from her. The teacher was nuzzled into Emily's side and Charlotte's heart melted as the brunette's fingers traced soothing patterns along her sister's (or well technically, her cousin's) arm. The two of them really were perfect for one another and Charlotte _knew_ they'd be amazing parents together. Their child was honestly so lucky, because Alison was the most selfless person Charlotte had ever known and Emily was by far the most protective. Combine those traits with both women's capacity to love and you had two badass moms in the making.

Speaking of badass moms, Teresa was sitting in the chair next to her. The older woman and Bradley had gotten to the hospital no less than 15 minutes after the ambulance arrived (Charlotte's assuming Brittany's younger brother violated a few traffic laws along the way). Their shoulders were touching and Charlotte found the subtle contact comforting. Brittany's mom had always showered her with love and affection and the blonde was amazed that Teresa still unconsciously did it now…especially after everything that had happened.

"You can't prevent me from questioning her! I'm a detective, it's my job!" A booming voice rattled throughout the surgical intensive care unit waiting room and Charlotte had to prevent herself from rolling her eyes when she realized who it belonged to. _Jesus, this fool doesn't know when to lay the fuck off._

"Actually…considering I'm Miss Drake's legal representative and she isn't under arrest for anything, I _can_ prevent you from questioning her Detective Furey," Reggie's muscular arms were crossed over his broad chest as he stared Marco down, "And I'm going to ask you nicely to leave Charlotte and _everyone_ from Brittany's family alone right now."

Marco used his hand to gesture to Alison (who had since woken up from her slumber) and the other girls as he condescendingly observed, "They're not a part of Brittany's family."

"Alison _is_ Brittany's family," Reggie fired back and Charlotte had to bit her lip to suppress a chuckle when Marco flinched, "And Emily, Spencer, Hanna, and Aria _are_ Alison's family. So, they're staying right here Detective Furey…and you're leaving."

The tension continued to mount between the two men for a good thirty seconds before Marco relented, "Fine…but they're going to have to answer questions eventually...and that includes your boss Reggie, because I find her involvement in this quite fascinating."

Before Reggie could tell Marco to shove whatever he was implying about Brittany straight up his ass, Teresa swiftly stood up from her chair and strode over to the police officer radiating a protective momma bear aura as she seethed, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you better watch your tone when discussing my daughter. Do you understand me, _detective_?"

Realizing how insensitive he was being given the circumstances, Marco gulped as Teresa's green eyes practically penetrated his soul before he weakly mumbled, "Yes."

The older woman nodded her head and crossed her arms authoritatively over her chest, "Good. Now I suggest you get the hell out of my sight because I _really_ hate when people go after my kids. I have a tendency to pounce first and ask questions later when that happens. And considering the emotional state I'm in right now, there's no telling what I'll do detective…I'm from the Bronx after all."

* * *

Alison was walking up and down a random hallway near the surgical intensive care unit waiting room. Even though she knew how strong her best friend was, she couldn't ignore the fact that Brittany had been in surgery for _hours._ When Spencer had been shot not even two months prior, it had taken the doctors less than three hours to complete her surgery and they were now nearing hour six for Brittany. Ali didn't want to panic, but _fuck_ Bradley had already donated a pretty substantial amount of blood to be used for a blood transfusion for his sister because so much of her blood had poured out onto the ammunition plant's rooftop…And if that didn't help Brittany pull through Ali didn't know what else the doctors would be able to do…

Ali's arms protectively wrapped around her stomach as tears formed in her eyes. She was thinking about her and Emily's baby and how messed up of a world they were bringing them into. Because no matter how much you love your children, the sad truth is you can't protect them from all the evil forces that exist. Teresa was the absolute best parent Ali had ever met, and yet here she was waiting for hours on end in a hospital to see whether her daughter would survive. It was all just so fucked up.

Knowing she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Ali walked into the nearest women's restroom and splashed water onto her face while taking some deep breaths. She wanted to calm down, but her pregnancy hormones really weren't allowing that to happen.

The teacher heard the bathroom door opening and felt warmth immediately spread throughout her body as her eyes settled on her breathtakingly beautiful girlfriend holding her best friend's adorable nephew securely in her strong arms. Despite how worried she was, Ali smiled through her tears at the pair.

Though Teresa and Bradley had initially intended for the almost four-year-old not to come to the hospital, Mandela had insisted that he be there to help his aunt Brittany heal. Ultimately realizing that they couldn't protect their son from this-especially given the media circus that was mounting as news of Brittany being shot spread across the globe-Eva had brought the little boy to the hospital two hours ago. Since he'd arrived (in his New York Liberty pajamas of all things), he'd been glued to Alison's hip while he got to know all the new people that were surrounding him. The English teacher didn't mind his company in the slightest-and actually appreciated the distraction-as she introduced Brittany's godson to her girlfriend and best friends. Like his aunt, Mandela was incredibly charming and Ali could tell he'd stolen everyone's hearts. Not surprisingly, he'd warmed up to Emily shortly after meeting her and made it a point to whisper in Ali's ear, "She's your mermaid, right?" just to confirm his mounting suspicions about the place the brunette held in Alison's heart.

Mandela looked like he was about to explode with excitement as Emily set him down on the ground and he rushed over to the teacher, "Aunt Ali! Aunt Ali! She's going to be okay! She's going to be okay!"

The blonde's eyes went wide as she crouched down to bring the little boy into her arms. Holding Emily's gaze she tried not to get choked up as she inquired, "Brittany's going to be okay?" _Oh my God, please let this be what Mandela's talking about._

Emily nodded as she approached the blonde and drew her (and Mandela) into a gentle embrace, "Yeah. The doctors were able to remove the bullet and get the bleeding stopped. It just took way longer than they anticipated. She's in recovery right now, but probably won't wake up for a while."

Alison let out a deep sigh of relief as her head settled onto Emily's chest and she breathed out, "Thank you, God."

"I told you that aunt Brittany was going to be fine! She's a superhero after all," Ali adoringly smiled at the toddler nestled in her arms. He was just so incredibly pure and the fact that he considered her best friend a superhero was just too cute. She and Mandela had always shared a special bond and the blonde was so incredibly touched that he'd sought her out with Emily to share the fantastic news about Brittany. Mandela brushed a lose strand of hair behind her ear before he proclaimed, "She's going to get her happy ending with Charlotte just like you're going to get your happy ending with Emily."

Ali breathed the woman who meant absolutely everything to her in and relished in the feel of Emily's fingers running up and down her back as Mandela's prophetic words washed over her. God, how she wanted them to be true…After everything all of them had been through with first -A and now A.D., Ali wanted nothing more than for her, Emily, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, Charlotte, Brittany, and Mona to experience genuine happiness in their lives.

She could tell that Emily was thinking the same thing because a few moments later, the swim coach murmured into her slightly disheveled hair after affectionately kissing the crown of her head, "I love you Ali."

Alison closed her eyes and thanked her lucky stars that Emily Fields was her soulmate. She'd been her rock from the moment they'd met and Ali knew there was no way she could have survived this agonizingly long night as Brittany's life hung in the ballots without her mermaid. The swim coach was her knight in shining armor and Ali _still_ couldn't believe that they were going to become mothers together soon-that they were going to be a family. In that moment, as Mandela's blue eyes that so resembled her best friend's, knowingly observed her, Ali realized that she wanted her and Emily to become a family…officially. _Oh my God I want to ask Em to marry me. Okay, Ali maybe you should be Emily's girlfriend for longer than 48 hours before you go asking her to be your wife...But damn, I know that I want forever with Emily. Hell, I've always known that. So maybe…it wouldn't be that odd to ask her sooner rather than later…God, I really need to talk to Brittany about this._

A tiny smirk spread across Mandela's face as Ali set him down back on the ground and the three of them made their way out of the bathroom. Ali swore he could read the rampant thoughts that were running through her mind. He was Brittany's nephew after all…

Before they rounded the corner that would take them down the hallway to the recovery area of the surgical intensive care unit, Ali stopped in front of Emily and drew her in for a lingering kiss. The blonde kept their foreheads resting together when their kiss ended and gently held onto Emily's cheeks. Staring into her mermaid's soulful brown eyes, Alison felt her breath hitch momentarily before she sincerely declared, "I love you Emily. Thank you for _always_ taking such great care of me. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you…but I'm holding onto you with everything I've got for the rest of my life."

Emily looked at her like she was the most precious thing on the entire planet as she earnestly replied, "I hope you know that I plan on holding onto you just as strongly, Ali. It took me _so_ long to get to this place with you...I'm not letting anything come between us," The blonde felt her cheeks flush as Emily's hand reverently caressed her stomach, "Or our family…ever."

 _God, I can't wait to marry you Emily Fields._

"Not to interrupt your moment or anything, but do you think we could keep moving because I really want to see aunt Brittany," Mandela looked up at them expectantly as a sly smile spread across his face. Ali could kick herself for getting lost in Emily's sweet words and gestures when she _should_ be focusing on her best friend who'd just survived a gunshot wound, but damn did Em always have to be so perfect?

Grabbing Emily's hand that was on her stomach, Ali interlocked their fingers as she held out her other hand to Mandela and offered the little boy a reassuring smile, "Of course angel."

The toddler happily took her hand and began to drag her and Emily down the hallway. Ali giggled at Mandela's antics and couldn't help but hope that her and Emily's child would exhibit similar traits in the not so distant future.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day/night wherever you are! Enjoy the final episode of PLL (I know I'll probably be crying during most of it lol) and hopefully you'll be reading more from me soon!**


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